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Groin injecting in injectable opioid treatment service users in South London

journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-01, 00:00 authored by Peter MillerPeter Miller, L Forzisi, D Zador, N Lintzeris, N Metrebian, R Van Der Waal, S Mayet, J Strang
Femoral (or groin) injecting is an emerging public health challenge to all drug-related services within the UK. Recent work in the area has proposed that groin injecting in the UK has moved from being a ‘risk boundary’ to an ‘acceptable behaviour’. This article uses data from 10 in-depth qualitative interviews with service users from a supervised injectable opiate treatment service in South London to report on pathways to, and reasons for, groin injecting. Our findings indicate that even though groin injecting constitutes a risk boundary for some injectors, the practice is no longer heavily stigmatised and is perceived by some to be an acceptable risk. Narratives also pointed to the importance of peers in the initiation of groin injecting. Interviewees described the groin as a site of ‘last resort’ in contrast to ‘convenience’ groin injectors described in some previous research. We conclude that it might be helpful to distinguish between convenience and last resort groin injectors and support the call for innovative interventions which aim to reduce modelling of groin injection and which promote social norms supportive of using peripheral injecting sites.

History

Journal

Addiction research and theory

Volume

17

Issue

4

Pagination

381 - 389

Publisher

Informa Healthcare

Location

London, England

ISSN

1606-6359

eISSN

1476-7392

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, Informa UK Ltd.