An anonymous AM 1150 listener says it encourages unsafe behaviour
An anonymous AM 1150 listener shared what she called a disturbing discovery at a West Kelowna dollar store.
While visiting the Urban Dollar Plus on Dobbin Road Friday afternoon, she was shocked when she found what appeared to be a used needle lying on the ground.
"I thought it was a real injection needle because of the discoloration around the tip," says the listener. "I very gingerly picked it up by the middle and took it over to the clerk, thinking that she would be horrified, and she said 'oh, no that's a pen.'"
The pen sells for one dollar.
Our caller says it's in poor taste, citing the current overdose and used needle situation in the Okanagan, and could result in children being unsafe around actual syringes.
"I don't want to see five and six-year-olds running around with one of these things as a pen, or a thirteen or fourteen-year-old having one of these, and his younger brother sees a real disposed needle, thinks its a pen, and picks it up."
A representative from the dollar store said the pen is a novelty item, and is actually quite popular with nurses and blood donor clinic workers.
Kelowna City Bylaw says there's nothing inherently illegal about the pen, and they haven't received any previous complaints.
