News From Needle Exchanges What the staff say

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News From Needle ExchangesWhat the staff say

• John Campbell
• March 2009

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Overview

• SDFs relationship with needle exchange
• Data sources
• Findings
• Conclusions

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SDFs 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 (horses 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
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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?

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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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