But, there are a hell of a lot of drug users using this method who feel badly about themselves. Especially if they have an addiction to the drug they're administering.
Sometimes they feel bad because of the stigma Pleo mentioned that is associated with I.V. use and often it's their own personal problems that are the cause. How they feel when they come down can also contribute. In many cases it's all of those things. Either way, low self-esteem coupled with physical addiction can mean that the user may often end up not giving a shit about themselves and in turn, not caring about using sterile technique. And therein lies the possibility of getting serious health problems.
I agree with most of that - I make a similar statement when discussing "internalised stereotypes." I'm certainly not saying that some pretty yukky shit doesn't go on. When injectors cop "its just dirty dirty dirty" not just from the status quo but from users of other drugs attempting to make themselves feel better about their use "I'm not as fucked up as you are, nah nah nah nah nah nah" (thats not aimed at you at all auntiedote) how can we expect users to challenge these myths every single day. It is emotionally draining. What other users have to digest being told that on a place like bluelight which is supposed to be a haven for harm reduction discussion?
and without the active support of the users movement I have no doubt that I would have adopted a "who gives a fuck" attitude a long time ago.
The question is why and how do you stop it. A big part of the answer is to struggle against those stereotypes and to show that a different way is possible given the right social and legal structures.
With respect, what Mibrane has talked about is the ideal scenario with I.V. use. If you stick to it you will avoid problems. But unfortunately the reality is sometimes very different. The user you see standing on a street corner looking like shit isn't just a stereotype, it's a real person.
For those who don't know me: I've worked in drug user organisations for the better part of a decade. I've worked with hundreds of real persons, and I've seen some truly awful damage. I've seen users whacking into the cock veins in an alley. I've seen people lose limbs. Outisde of my immediate using circle, probably 90% of the users I work with are Hep C +. I don't need to ring a rehab - users share a lot more crap with peer representatives than they ever would with a medical professional "treating" them - and I've got the reasearch to back that up. And as has already been mentioned, detoxes (and most government drug intervention programs in general are dealing with users when they've hit a pretty low ebb. And so "official" stats and public perceptions based on research conducted amongst such a group is inherently slanted towards users having a hard time. There are tens of thousands of users who have never, and a not much smaller number who probably will never, come into contact with these services.
I've also seen and experience moments of absolute wonder and total pleasure
- and so have those who have had such horrible things happen to them - or they wouldn't do it. And so the safe injection I talk about isn't just about avoiding blood-borne virus, or looking after your veins, or preventing endocarditis; these things are incredibly important, and its the reason I get funded to do what i do (from the economic rationalist viewpoint, spend a bit now so we don't have to spend much more on treatment later on). But the safe injection I promote through my work is also about how do you get the most wonder and the least harm out of your drug experience. From our first blurb at RS Melb "to minimise the harms and maximise the wonders."
If presenting an image that challlenges the stereotype is seen as glamourising (and I don't think what i wrote does that), so be it. I make no apologies for suggesting alternatives, and for working towards a different view of users.
Final words: if injecting was really so dirty, why is it the prefferred form of drug delivery in a medical context? Thousands of injections are administered everyday in a medical context (as i said in the last post, literally saving thousand of lives) without anyone running in going "thats just dirty". OK, so they're using medical quailty gear. But the target is always the injection - not the drug itself. It demonstrates that - and this is crucial - given real, afffordable access to injecting equipment, effective education, and self-esteem flowing from a rejection of the bullshit that gets placed on drug users in general, but injectors in particular.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
