Convenience Store Installs Anti-Drug Lights To Deter Heroin Use In Bathrooms

A Sheetz store in Pennsylvania is testing out blue lights to keep drug users from taking shelter in their bathrooms. Screen shot

A small-town convenience store in Altoona, Pennsylvania, tested out special blue-tinted lights in its bathrooms to discourage drug use, the company said.

The blue-hued lights are designed to prevent heroin users from finding their veins, according to the store’s cooperate office. That store, located at 325 Freeport St. in Parnassus, is currently the only location with the lights installed.

"One of our highest priorities at Sheetz is creating a safe and secure environment for our customers and employees," Sheetz spokesman Nick Ruffner said in a statement to Triblive Tuesday. "The light system in the restrooms at this New Kensington store (Westmoreland County) is designed to help our customers and employees avoid dangerous situations."

"This system is being tested at just this store for the time being, and it is too early to see the full results at this time or to discuss any plans to expand this test," he noted.

This Sheetz location witnessed an increase in overdose deaths over the past nine years. The county had a record 144 confirmed overdose deaths since Dec. 1, with 179 deaths tracing back to November.

Police in Altoona said they witness overdoses in public restrooms a few times a month, but more often in cars and parking lots.

Gateway Rehab's medical director, Dr. Neil Capretto, said the lights could decrease drug use in the bathrooms. Still, he added that when desperate, most drug users can locate their veins through memory.

"(They) could probably find a vein with their eyes closed if they had to," he said. "I am not sure if it is going to have a significant impact, but it is probably worth a try."

Customers like Jan Mills Sr. who frequent the convenience store remain skeptical of the lighting system.

"They'll do drugs everyplace," he told WJAC, an ABC affiliate in Washington. "I don't think it'll work. I can understand Sheetz not wanting it to occur and if that drives them away, fine, but I don't think it's going to do it."