LONDON, United Kingdom – November 2015. The findings of a recent update of the report “Shooting Up Infections among people who inject drugs in the UK”from Public Health England indicate an increase in the number of people injecting stimulants, particularly amphetamine-type stimulants, in the United Kingdom. In the report, concern is expressed about the fact that within five years of the first appearance of mephedrone, around one-in-ten people who inject drugs reported the injection of this substance. There are also concerns about the injection of mephedrone and other drugs among some sub-groups of MSM (men who have sex with men) during sex, with injecting equipment often shared and condoms not being used.

Among the population surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland , the proportion of people who reported injecting amphetamine-type stimulants as their main drug tripled from 3.9 per cent (58/1,460) in 2004 to 12 per cent (159/1,354) in 2014. The number of people reporting injecting use of amphetamine during the preceding month increased from 18 per cent in 2010 to 24 per cent in 2014. Injecting use of mephedrone during the preceding month was reported by 5.9 per cent (92/1,554) in 2014. Those who had injected mephedrone were younger than those who had not. Mephedrone injecting is a more recent practice which occurs mainly among people who have previously injected other drugs, and among people who have switched from snorting mephedrone.

Increased health problems related to the injection of mephedrone were also reported. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, those who reported that they had injected mephedrone during the preceding year were more likely to have HIV, to have antibodies to hepatitis C virus, and to report having had an injection site infection during the preceding year. These findings suggest that mephedrone injecting may have emerged among higher risk groups with already elevated levels of infection. Those who reported that they had injected amphetamine during the past year were also more likely to have antibodies to hepatitis C than those who had not. In Ireland, an unexpected increase in cases of acute HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) associated with the injection of the synthetic cathinone alpha-PVP by so called chaotic PWID was reported earlier this year.

For further information please see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/475712/Shooting_Up_2015_FINAL.pdf
https://www.unodc.org/LSS/Announcement/Index/1?type=NPS