Observed Patterns of HIV Related Risk Behaviour Amongst Intravenous Drug Users Attending a Dublin Needle Exchange in Its First Year

Abstract

The problem of serious drug use in Dublin started in the mid 1960s with abuse of drugs such as amphetamines, barbiturates and tranqullisers. The situation changed in the late 1970s with the onset of an opiate epidemic, somewhat later than in other European cities, which reached a peak in 1983. (Dean et al 1985) The areas most affected were the inner city areas where there were also high levels of unemployment and poor social conditions. With the finding that the majority of drug users were injecting rather than sniffing or smoking, (Dean et al 1987), the potential risks for spread of H.I.V. and Hepatitis B were obvious.