Initial and current drug use: how are they related?

The present study examines how initial and current patterns of drug use are related among a group of drug users in Edinburgh. The study categorised individuals according to the year in which they first used illicit drugs. 1984 has been shown to be the year when patterns of drug use in this group began to change after high levels of heroin use in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Thus 1984 was used as the intercept point to create two groups: the epidemic group, comprising individuals who began using illicit drugs before 1984, and, the post epidemic group, who began using during or after 1984. Data from individuals were gathered from interviews and medical records. Statistical analysis revealed interesting differences between the groups, for example, the groups did not differ significantly in their use of methadone but the epidemic group used more methadone obtained on prescription. The post epidemic group was found to inject more often, but, did not share injecting equipment more than the epidemic drug users. A greater number of the epidemic group began using drugs by injecting and a greater number of the post epidemic group began by taking drugs orally. The issues raised by the results are discussed, and, it is suggested that the characteristics of the drug using community within which an individual begins using drugs may exert influence on patterns of drug use in later years.