"It's Russian roulette": Adulteration, adverse effects and drug use transitions during the 2010/2011 United Kingdom heroin shortage

International Journal of Drug Policy

Volumn 26, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 51-58

  Harris, Magdalena ^a   Forseth, Kirsten ^a   Rhodes, Tim ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Adulteration; Drug market; Harm reduction; Heroin; Qualitative; United Kingdom

Indexed keywords

COCAINE; DIAMORPHINE;

ADULT; ARTICLE; CLINICAL ARTICLE; DRUG OVERDOSE; DRUG PURITY; EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA; FEMALE; HARM REDUCTION; HEALTH HAZARD; HEALTH SERVICE; HEROIN DEPENDENCE; HUMAN; INTERVIEW; INTRAVENOUS DRUG ABUSE; LONGITUDINAL STUDY; MALE; MULTIPLE DRUG ABUSE; UNITED KINGDOM; CHEMISTRY; COCAINE-RELATED DISORDERS; COMPLICATION; DRUG CONTAMINATION; INFORMATION PROCESSING; MIDDLE AGED; SUBSTANCE ABUSE; SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION; YOUNG ADULT;

ADULT; COCAINE-RELATED DISORDERS; CRACK COCAINE; DATA COLLECTION; DRUG CONTAMINATION; DRUG OVERDOSE; FEMALE; GREAT BRITAIN; HARM REDUCTION; HEROIN; HEROIN DEPENDENCE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SUBSTANCE ABUSE, INTRAVENOUS; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84919655623     PISSN: 09553959     EISSN: 18734758     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.09.009     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. Aitken C., Higgs P. Severe vein damage caused by Temezepam injecting. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2002, 26(1):79.
2. Aitken C., Moore D., Higgs P., Kelsall J., Kerger M. The impact of a police crackdown on a street drug scene: Evidence from the street. International Journal of Drug Policy 2002, 13:189-198.
3. Albers E. CEO, International Network of People who Use Drugs 2014, (Personal communication).
4. Boyce N. Health warnings for people who use heroin. Lancet 2011, 377(9761):193-194.
5. Bush W., Roberts M., Trace M. Upheavals in the Australian drug market: Heroin drought, stimulant flood. Drugscope briefing paper No. 4 2004, Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme, London.
6. Coomber R. The adulteration of drugs: What dealers do to illicit drugs, and what they think is done to them. Addiction Research 1997, 5(4):297-306.
7. Coomber R., Maher L. Street-level drug market activity in Sydney's primary heroin markets: Organization, adulteration practices, pricing, marketing and violence. Journal of Drug Issues 2006, 36(3):719-753.
8. Ciccarone D., Harris M. Fire in the vein: Heroin acidity and its proximal effect on users' health. International Journal of Drug Policy 2014, (in press).
9. Day C., Degenhardt L., Gilmour S., Hall W. The impact of changes to heroin supply on blood-borne virus notifications and injecting related harms in New South Wales, Australia. BMC Public Health 2005, 5:84.
10. Degenhardt L., Conroy E., Gilmour S., Hall W.D. The effect of a reduction in heroin supply on fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses in New South Wales, Australia. Medical Journal of Australia 2005, 182(1):20-23.
11. Degenhardt L., Day C., Dietze P., Pointer S., Conroy E., Collins L., et al. Effects of a sustained heroin shortage in three Australian states. Addiction 2005, 100(7):908-920.
12. Degenhardt L., Day C., Gilmour S., Hall W. The lessons of the Australian heroin shortage. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2006, 1:11.
13. Degenhardt L., Reuter P., Collins L., Hall W. Evaluating explanations of the Australian 'heroin shortage'. Addiction 2005, 100(4):459-469.
14. Derricott J. Exchange supplies 2014, (Personal communication).
15. Dietze P., Miller P., Clemens S., Matthews S., Gilmour S., Collins L. The course and consequences of the heroin shortage in Victoria 2004, Australasian Centre for Policing Research, Adelaide.
16. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Summary report from EMCDDA trendspotter meeting 18-19 October 2011. Lisbon 2011, Retrieved from: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/scientific-studies/2011/trendspotters-report (17.09.12).
17. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction European Drug Report 2014: Trends and developments 2014, EMCDDA, Lisbon.
18. Gibson A., Day C., Degenhardt L. The impact of illicit drug market changes on health agency operations in Sydney, Australia. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 2005, 28(1):35-40.
19. Griffiths P., Mounteney J., Laniel L. Understanding changes in heroin availability in Europe over time: Emerging evidence for a slide, a squeeze and a shock. Addiction 2012, 107(9):1539-1540.
20. Hallam C. The heroin shortage in the UK and Europe 2011, International Drug Policy Consortium, London.
21. Harris M. The 'do-it-yourself' New Zealand injecting scene: Implications for harm reduction. International Journal of Drug Policy 2013, 24(4):281-283.
22. Harrison A., Christie P., Longo M., Pointer S., Ali R. The course and consequences of the heroin shortage in South Australia 2004, Australasian Centre for Policing Research, Adelaide.
23. Harris M., Rhodes T. Methadone diversion as a protective strategy: The harm reduction potential of 'generous constraints'. International Journal of Drug Policy 2013, 24(6):e43-e50.
24. Home Office Drug strategy 2010. Reducing demand, restricting supply, building recovery: Supporting people to live a drug free life 2010, London Home Office.
25. Horyniak D., Higgs P., Lewis J., Winter R., Dietze P., Aitken C. An evaluation of a heroin overdose prevention and education campaign. Drug and Alcohol Review 2010, 29(1):5-11.
26. Kerr T., Small W., Hyshka E., Maher L., Shannon K. 'It's more about the heroin': Injection drug users' response to an overdose warning campaign in a Canadian setting. Addiction 2013, 108(7):1270-1276.
27. Kleiman M., Smith K.D. State and local drug law enforcement: In search of a strategy. Drugs and crime 1990, 69-108. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. M. Tonry, J.Q. Wilson (Eds.).
28. Korf D., Nabben T. Antenna: A multi-method approach to assessing new drug trends. In EMCDDA. Understanding and responding to drug use: The role of qualitative research 2002, 73-82. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon.
29. Maher L., Li J., Jalaludin B., Wand H., Jayasuriya R., Dixon D., et al. Impact of a reduction in heroin availability on patterns of drug use, risk behaviour and incidence of hepatitis C virus infection in injecting drug users in New South Wales, Australia. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2007, 89(2-3):244-250.
30. McGowan C., Harris M., Rhodes T. Hepatitis C avoidance in injection drug users: A typology of possible protective practices. PLOS ONE 2013, 8(10):e77038.
31. McKetin R., McLaren J., Lubman D.I., Hides L. The prevalence of psychotic symptoms among methamphetamine users. Addiction 2006, 101(10):1473-1478.
32. Miller P. Media reports of heroin overdose spates: Public health messages, moral panics or risk advertisements?. Critical Public Health 2007, 17(2):113-121.
33. Miller P., Fry C., Dietze P. A study of the impact of the heroin drought in Melbourne: Results of the Drug Availability Monitoring Project (DAMP) 2001, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Melbourne.
34. Moore D. Governing street-based injecting drug users: A critique of heroin overdose prevention in Australia. Social Science & Medicine 2004, 59(7):1547-1557.
35. Mounteney J., Leirvag S-E. Providing an earlier warning of emerging drug trends: The Fore Var system. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 2004, 11(6):449-471.
36. National Treatment Agency National alert: Heroin shortage in the UK 2011, Retrieved from: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/healthcare-alerts.aspx (17.09.12).
37. Office of National Statistics Heroin and morphine linked drug deaths drop by 25 per cent. News Release 2011, Retrieved from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp29904_277786.pdf (17.09.12).
38. Office of National Statistics Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales, 2011. Statistical bulletin 2012, Office of National Statistics, Newport.
39. Office of National Statistics Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales, 2012. Statistical bulletin 2013, Office of National Statistics, Newport.
40. Rhodes T. The risk environment: A framework for understanding and reducing drug-related harm. International Journal of Drug Policy 2002, 13(2):85-94.
41. Roxburgh A., Degenhardt L., Breen C. Changes in patterns of drug use among injecting drug users following changes in the availability of heroin in New South Wales, Australia. Drug and Alcohol Review 2004, 23(3):287-294.
42. Santibanez S.S., Garfein R.S., Swartzendruber A., Kerndt P.R., Morse E., Ompad D., et al. Prevalence and correlates of crack-cocaine injection among young injection drug users in the United States, 1997-1999. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2005, 77(3):227-233.
43. Scott J., Winfield A., Kennedy E., Bond C. Laboratory study of the effects of citric and ascorbic acids on injections prepared with brown heroin. International Journal of Drug Policy 2000, 11(6):417-422.
44. Serious Organized Crime Agency SOCA comments on reported UK heroin shortages 2011, Retrieved from: http://www.soca.gov.uk/news/309-soca-comments-on-reported-uk-heroin-shortages (17.09.12).
45. Simonson P., Daly M. The great heroin crash. Druglink 2011, 26:6-7.
46. Smithson M., McFadden M., Mwesigye S.E., Casey T. The impact of illicit drug supply reduction on health and social outcomes: The heroin shortage in the Australian Capital Territory. Addiction 2004, 99(3):340-348.
47. Talking Drugs A benzodiazepine, alprazolam is being sold as heroin 2010, Retrieved from: http://www.talkingdrugs.org/a-benzodiazepine-alprazolam-is-being-sold-as-heroin-in-london (15.09.12).
48. Taylor D. Heroin shortage in the UK is 'putting lives at risk'. The Guardian 2010, November. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/nov/21/heroin-shortage-uk-overdose-users (15.07.02).
49. Travis A. (2011). Drug overdose deaths highlight Britain's recent heroin shortage The Guardian, 15 March 2011.
50. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Afghanistan opium survey 2010 2010, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Retrieved from: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afg_opium_survey_2010_exsum_web.pdf (17.09.12).
51. Weatherburn D., Jones C., Freeman K., Makkai T. Supply control and harm reduction: Lessons from the Australian heroin 'drought'. Addiction 2003, 98(1):83-91.