REPORT SAYS ADDICTS AVOID NEEDLE SHARING

HIV Down Among City's Intravenous Drug Users

MOST Winnipeg intravenous drug users say they don't share dirty
needles, according to a new study by Manitoba Health

Four out of five users told researchers they never give away a needle
or prepare drugs in another person's syringe. And 63 per cent had
used a needle exchange, which gives clean syringes to drug users.

That means users say they are taking steps to protect their health,
said Ann Jolly, a scientist with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Dirty needles can harbour up to 20 blood-borne diseases including HIV.

"That is definitely very, very promising. I think there is a lot of
hope in the results of the study," she said.

The report was based on a questionnaire given in 2003 and 2004 to 435
people who had injected drugs within the last six months. It was the
first large-scale study in Winnipeg since 1998, although Jolly
cautions that the two studies shouldn't be used for comparison since
the older study was conducted differently. Of Winnipeg IV drug users
surveyed by Jolly and her colleagues, 54 per cent had hepatitis C, 32
per cent had hepatitis B and seven per cent were HIV-positive.
(That's down from 1998, when 12 per cent surveyed had HIV.)

For public health officials, not only is sharing needles and
equipment a concern, but also the cuts and burns users sharing straws
or pipes for smoking drugs get around their lips and mouths.

"(The) opportunity for disease transmission along these routes still
does occur and these practices continue to occur in some
circumstances, even when an individual suspects the needle has been
used by someone infected by a blood-borne pathogen," reads the report
prepared by John Wylie, an assistant professor at the University of
Manitoba and the lead researcher.

The most notable change since 1998 was a drop in injection cocaine
use, although it still remains the drug of choice among users at 38
per cent. No single drug has filled the gap, but several other drugs
have become more popular, such as heroin, morphine, and Ritalin.

Two drugs that have made headlines arrived on Winnipeg's drug scene
after 1998 -- crystal methamphetamine and oxycodone, with 17 per cent
saying they had used the former and two per cent the later. Those
drugs aren't taken intravenously.

The study paints a picture of IV drug users "hanging out" in the
inner city, half living on their own, nearly a quarter with a friend
or family members, and the rest living in a hostel, rooming house,
hotel, vehicle or on the street.

Of the users, 38 per cent reported some form of employment. Study
participants were also involved in prostitution, theft, panhandling
and selling stolen goods.