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News From Needle Exchanges
What the staff say
John Campbell
March 2009
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Overview
• SDF’s relationship with needle exchange
• Data sources
• Findings
• Conclusions
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SDF’s Relationship with Needle Exchange
• Needle Exchange Workers’ Forum
• Needle Exchange Guidelines
• Glasgow Steroid Working Group
• BBV Prevention Groups
• SUI Survey
• Training
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Data Sources
• Needle Exchange Workers’ Forum (horse’s
mouth)
• Hard Data
• SDF - Needle Exchange Workers’ Survey
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SDF – Survey
• Staff views sought
• Geographical
coverage
• Asked about injecting
trends
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New Clients
• 52% noticed an increase in new clients
• All (except 1) had new clients injecting heroin
• Most had new clients injecting steroids
• Half had clients injecting cocaine/crack
• First reports of injectable tan!
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Melanotan 2
• Melanotan is a hormone
that stimulates melanin
production
• Other reported benefits:
weight loss
increased libido
healthy spot free skin
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Hard Data GDCC - Steroids
Steroid Comparison - 4 Years
04/05
05/06
06/07
07/08
65%
60%
55%
50%
Percentage
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
New Steroid User
Steroid Needles Issued
Total Steroid User
Visits
Details
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Existing Clients
• All have clients injecting heroin
• More than half have clients injecting:
Steroids
Cocaine or crack
Amphetamines
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Poly- Drug Use
• Most reported increase in combined use of:
Heroin
Alcohol (described as huge and massive)
Cocaine and crack
Benzodiazepines
Methadone
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Changes in Preparation of Drugs
• “Speed-balling” – but not new in every area
• Crack needs to be
cold prepared
do clients know this?
• Proper use of citric?
Changes in Injecting Behaviour
• “More people groin and neck”
• “increase in femoral injecting”
• “many more groin injectors than at any time over last 9
years”
• “cyclizine injecting”
• “methamphetamine becoming more popular especially
when a dry up of heroin”
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Changes in the Choice of Injecting Sites
• femoral injecting-choice or necessity?
• Some reported neck injecting
• Feet and legs also used
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Femoral injecting numbers?
• 15,000 injectors
• 1/3rd using the femoral vein = 5,000
• Injects 3 times per day
=15,000
• Per week
=105,000
• Per year
=5,460,0000
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Changes in Injecting Injuries
• Nearly half reported increases in……..
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Sharing Needles
• Only 1 respondent noticed an increase in
sharing - PRISON
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Sharing Paraphernalia
• Only one respondent reported increase in
sharing of spoons, filters and citric.
• The paraphernalia given out from this area
does not include the above!
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Paraphernalia Given and Asked for
• Increase in long blue Needles
• Increase in green needles and (2ml) barrels
• Regional paraphernalia variations (2 respondents sell
citric to clients)
• Clients asking for a full range of paraphernalia
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Summary
• Increase in steroid and other performance enhancing
drugs
• Increase in cocaine/crack injecting
• Increase in poly drug use (especially alcohol)
• Increase in high risk injecting sites
• Increase in injecting injuries
• Decrease in sharing
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Average NXC client?
• If we have no such thing as an average
needle exchange client.
• We should ensure we have no such thing
as an average needle exchange service.
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