Heroin users' careers and perceptions of drug use: A comparison of smokers and injectors in the Mersey region

Abstract

To date few studies have compared heroin users who smoke heroin with those who inject it. In the present study a sample of 38 heroin users, half smokers and half injectors, was investigated using several drugs career indices. Results showed that users display preferences, with the use of some drugs being favoured over time. Injectors used all drugs more frequently than smokers. Although there was much variability in frequency of use the trend over the initial 3 years of use showed no increase in heroin use for either smokers or injectors. Although the majority of smokers had injected heroin there was no evidence that this group favoured injecting over time; rather the data suggested that smoking became the increasingly preferred method of consumption. Smokers were more likely than injectors to use other drugs post‐heroin. Contrary to expectation, few periods of abstinence were reported by the subjects in either group. Copyright © 1989, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved