Women Who Shoot Meth

From the Journal of Urban Health, May 2006 - Methamphetamine (MA) use is on the rise in the United States, with many cities reporting increases of 100% or more in MA-related Emergency Department (ED) mentions. Women are keeping pace with this trend: in 2003, 40% of ED mentions and 45% of MA-related treatment admissions were female.

This paper examines female methamphetamine injectors in San Francisco, CA, from 2003–2005. We assessed sexual and injection related risk behaviors, comparing female MA injectors to female injectors of other drugs. We also examined whether MA use was independently associated with specific sexual and injection risk behaviors. We found that female MA injectors were significantly more likely than non-MA injectors to report unprotected anal intercourse, multiple sexual partners, receptive syringe sharing and sharing of syringes with more than one person in the past six months.

• To read the complete paper "Sexual and Injection Risk among Women who Inject Methamphetamine in San Francisco" in the Journal of Urban Health, click here.

• The State of California Department of Public Health's Office of AIDS created a very informative fact sheet about sex and IDUs titled "Injection Drug Users and Their Sex/Needle-Sharing Partners." Click here to be linked to this information.

How Do We Convince People It Doesn't Glamorize Drug Use?

We are one of but a few places with such a major need for syringe exchange that actually is led by people who believe exchanging needles glamorizes, supports, and increases drug use. It just doesn't make sense to me. On any level. SEPs are also still unauthorized in Colorado. Some of the same reasons are given there as are given here. People are just as confused there are they are here. And the picture of drug use is not that different in Colorado.

• Check out this article in the Denver Westword News - "Why doesn't Colorado get the point of needle exchange programs?". It talks about underground exchange and shares some personal stories - I enjoyed it.
• This article in Go-Go Magazine, "Surviving Heroin", is from 2000, but I found it to be a spectacular read, even if it is a little bit long. Although this was written almost 10 years ago, stuff ain't changin'. And the thing is, both these articles I linked you to from outta Colorado could really be Anywhere, USA. Lord knows it all applies to Stanislaus County, USA.