There is no completely safe way of injecting drugs. Injecting a drug (rather than smoking, swallowing or sniffing it) carries a much greater risk of overdose, vein damage and infection.
The information on this site is not here to teach you to inject if you are not already doing it.
However, if you are injecting, using the information may help you reduce the risks you are taking.
Risks
The main risks you can expose yourself to when injecting are:
- Hepatitis infection (viruses that can attack your liver)
- HIV infection (the virus that can cause AIDS)
- Overdose
- Vein damage
- Infection from bacteria
- Increasing your level of drug dependence.
Drug dependence has two parts: physical addiction and psychological dependence. The first is the response of the body to the absence of drugs; the second is the beliefs and emotions that drive people to use.
Injecting does not affect the physical addiction much BUT it is a very powerful ritual that can be extremely difficult to give up.
However, it is certainly not impossible to go back to other, safer ways of taking drugs..
Safer Drug Use
It is possible to avoid the risks by not injecting:
- Heroin can be smoked or sniffed
- Cocaine can be sniffed or smoked as crack
- Amphetamines can be swallowed or sniffed.
This will do far less damage to your body: you get almost the same dose and it lasts longer.
If you are having trouble finding veins or are using high-risk injecting sites, you might want to consider injecting (without the needle!) up your bum - UYB. The drugs are prepared in the same way as they would be for injecting, but you put the syringe a very short way into your bum and gently squirt.
Many people find that this gives them a hit similar to injecting - and it is much less risky than using high-risk sites.
If you are going to inject, read on and find out how to take as much risk as possible out of the injecting process...
Safer Injecting
Safer-injecting technique is injecting with the minimum risk of:
- Catching viral infections such as hepatitis (viruses that can attack your liver) or HIV (the virus that can cause AIDS)
- Overdose
- Vein damage
- Infection from bacteria that get into the blood
Needle Exchanges
Free needle exchange services exist all over the country - most drug agencies have one and many pharmacies offer them too.
Needle exchanges are free, most are anonymous and all are confidential. When you use them, get enough syringes to last until you can get back.
Needle exchanges have two functions: to give out sterile injecting equipment and to provide a safe place to dispose of used works.
Please contact FARS: 08000 38 31 30 or Talk to FRANK: 0800 77 66 00 for information about your nearest Needle Exchange service.
Summary
- You can protect yourself from infection by always using your own:
- New, sterile needles and syringes
- Mixing water, cups or containers
- Spoons
- Filters
- Swabs/sterets/alcohol wipes
- And never sharing, lending or borrowing them.
- 'Sharing' doesn't just mean using a syringe that someone else has used. It also means using:
- A filter
- Mixing water
- Water cup/container
- Spoon
that someone else has used, or passing them on to someone else. - Always use:
- Needles, syringes and filters once only
- The smallest needle you can
- A new needle if you can't find a vein straight away.
- Always be aware of the risk of:
- Catching infection from others
- Overdose
- Passing on infection to others.
- And go to see a doctor if you get any swelling at or near an injection site that lasts for more than a few days or:
- Is painful or tender
- Is hot and/or red
Or if you get:- Any serious bleeding;
- An area of skin becoming sore, weeping or turning black
- An area of skin becoming pale or discolored.
The source of the above information is the Exchange Supplies. This information has been summarized by and for FARS services. For the direct link to this source, click on:
www.exchangesupplies.org
