Preface - read first!

Please read this preface before reading the rest of the book as there are some areas that have changed significantly since the first edition was written, that need to be borne in mind when reading the book.

The first is the figure given for prevalence of hepatitis C amongst injecting drug users. More recent research has shown the estimate in the book to be overly pessimistic, with a more realistic prevalence figure of about 40%.

The second concerns the information surrounding injecting paraphernalia - particularly the situation in UK law regarding supply. When the safer injecting briefing was written the law was unclear, and supply of many items was illegal. Now, a number of items have been legalised and the risk of prosecution for items that have not been legalised is probably far less than it was. For more information on the legal situation regarding paraphernalia, click here.

Finally, the concept of coverage (with regard to the supply of needles and syringes) was not as well understood at the time of writing the book as it is now. In recent years, it has become abundantly clear that the UK is not supplying enough syringes or needles for a sterile one to be used for each injection. This means that alongside efforts to increase both supply and the numbers of outlets, there has to be an acceptance that injecting equipment will be reused and strategies for safer re-use (such as re-use of personal syringes and bleaching) need to be encouraged.