Dirty Needles, Pay Phones and You

Have drug addicts everywhere suddenly decided en masse to dispose of their dirty needles in pay phone coin return slots?

The latest email scare story is already spawning new variations as recipients spice it up with their own personal touches before forwarding it on to others.

Here are three versions in current circulation:

Example #1:

Example #2:

Example #3:

Comments: It's frightening, sounds authoritative, and is replicating in every part the world at this very moment.

Is it an urban legend?

Yes.

Contrary to the assertion that "This did NOT come from a hearsay urban legend source" in one of the U.S. variants, the email itself is precisely a hearsay urban legend source, unsigned and lacking any verifiable sources. The text claims that the information came from "phone company workers," but doesn't say which phone company, or where, or who those workers were.

Moreover, the fact that more than one version is circulating demonstrates that anonymous senders are altering the text at will. As is the case with most such email alerts, the information they contain is inherently unreliable.

Ah, but is it true?

No. As of this writing, no actual cases have been documented. (Note: see update on apparent copycat incidents in Virginia.)

Which is not to say that an incident of the kind described may not have happened somewhere, sometime. Odds are it has occurred at least once, though I've been unable to locate a single news report anywhere to substantiate that.

What renders the rumor incredible as a whole is the implication that the placing of used needles in coin return slots is a common occurence and that everyone, everywhere is endangered by it.

Are we to believe that a worldwide junkie convention took place wherein it was decided that public phones are the new needle disposal receptacle of choice? Was a resolution passed that instead of throwing away entire syringes (which won't fit into a coin return slot), all needles must henceforth be purposely detached and secreted somewhere where they can harm others?

Not likely.

Furthermore, what's the motive? Are we to think that drug addicts are a malicious and hateful lot by nature? There's no good reason to suppose it. Sure, they're notoriously irresponsible; sure, they're often found to be involved in criminal activities beyond using illegal drugs; but it doesn't follow that we should expect them to commit random acts of evil.

Though absurd in its specifics, the rumor echoes on a deeper level the conviction most of us have that the world is not as safe and sane a place as it used to be. It supplies anecdotal "evidence" to support a growing trend toward fear and distrust of strangers, particularly those who live on the seemier margins of society. Although the rumor was unfounded when it first erupted, reports of copycat incidents (Feb. 1999) now lend it an unfortunate after-the-fact credibility and nourish that underlying sense of insecurity. The dividing line between paranoia and prudent caution becomes harder and harder to discern.

Related articles:

Welcome to the World of AIDS
Needle-stick rumors as circulating in May 1998

More AIDS/HIV Sneak Attacks
New variants reported in October 1998

HIV Needle-Stick Rumors Still Thriving Online
March 1999 update with reports of copycat pranks

HIV Needles on Gas Pumps
New variant as of June 2000

CDC Report: Needle-Stick Hoaxes
Centers for Disease Control

Current Hoaxes / Netlore
The Urban Legends Top 25