HEROIN AND SPEED USE OFTEN LINKED

Heroin and speed users regularly swap between the two drugs and suffer
similar physical and psychiatric health problems, new research has shown.

The study, by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, challenges
education campaigns which have traditionally aimed at distinct drug users
without realising the extent of the crossover.

A senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Dr Shane Darke,
said: "I don't think we can talk about a heroin user or a speed user any
more. The patterns just aren't distinct. They look too similar."

The researchers interviewed almost 300 intravenous drug users and found
that, contrary to the stereotype, heroin use was often a further transition
in drug use rather than an end point.

The odds of speed users switching to heroin were double those of the reverse
occurring, but the traffic between the two drugs was considerable.

Users reported moving from speed to heroin because they did not like the
physical and psychological effects of regular amphetamine use. Those who
moved from heroin to speed cited the negative physical effects of heroin and
the associated lifestyle.

"We thought it was a fairly straightforward pattern, that users would start
snorting speed, then injecting, then move onto heroin, end of story," Dr
Darke said. "But they were just basically moving all over the place, which
surprised us.

"I think what we're looking at is very much a change in the way people are
using drugs. Our simple theory may have been true 10 years ago, but now
multiple drug use is the norm."

Those who moved from injecting speed to heroin reported more frequent use,
spending more money on drugs, and higher rates of crime to support their
habit. Those whose main drug was heroin were more socially dysfunctional -
as measured by rates of crime, unemployment and general social adjustment -
but both groups had similar levels of general and psychiatric health.

Dr Darke said the common view that amphetamine use had less negative
physical impact on users than heroin did not appear to be the case.

The age at which users first injected heroin ranged from nine to 33, with a
mean of 18.4, compared with 13 to 32 (a mean of 18.8) for speed. Education
campaigns aimed at specific populations of drug users - such as "Speed
Catches Up with You" - would have to be more broadly focused, Dr Darke said.

"Clearly, from these data, our tried-and-true methods of targeting specific
users is no longer valid."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett