Starbucks Is Installing Heroin Needle Disposal Boxes in Bathrooms

Because they're tired of having to pick up all the AIDS-infected junkie needles being left on bathroom floors, due to Starbucks' anyone-can-shoot-up-in-our-bathrooms policy.

Starbucks is installing needle-disposal boxes in some bathrooms, as well as exploring other solutions to workers' concerns regarding improperly discarded syringes and the related health risks.

More than 3,700 people signed a petition on Coworker.org, calling for Starbucks to place needle-disposal boxes in high-risk bathrooms.

Starbucks workers reported finding blood and needles in bathrooms, as well as being pricked by improperly discarded needles, risking exposure to HIV and hepatitis.

The decision to install needle-disposal or "sharps" boxes in Starbucks locations could help prompt change in the restaurant industry, making workers' jobs safer amid the opioid epidemic.

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In October, three Starbucks employees in Seattle told local news that they encountered hypodermic needles on the job nearly every day. They said they had to take antiviral medications to protect themselves from HIV and hepatitis.

Following the incident, Starbucks began installing sharps boxes in certain Seattle locations. Sharps boxes are containers that allow people to safely discard needles, syringes, and lancets that might otherwise pierce a trash bag and poke workers.

While not every Starbucks location has the same issues, baristas across the US have expressed concerns about needles and other disturbing materials found in bathrooms — a common problem in the restaurant industry.

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According to Jamie, she and other coworkers have encountered drugs, alcohol bottles, blood on floors and walls, condoms and condom wrappers, and needles (capped and uncapped) on floors and in the trash.

posted by Ace of Spades at 12:35 PM

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