A City Looks at its Problem of Drug Abuse by Injection

Abstract

SummaryA retrospective, multi-source screening study has detected 148 users (110 males, 38 females) of intravenous drugs who presented to all relevant agencies between 1971 and 1973 in Bristol, a city where maintenance therapy is a very infrequent practice. The peak prevalence was found in the age group 20–24 years, and it appeared that the chief sources of drugs were burglaries of chemists' shops and general practitioner prescriptions. Sixty-four per cent of our users had not been notified to the Home Office. Suggestions are made for the future monitoring and development of services.