NCJ Number
154152
Journal
International Journal of the Addictions Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: (1994) Pages: 179-194
Date Published
1994
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Nearly 7,000 illicit drug injectors who were not in treatment in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio were interviewed using a standard questionnaire to determine their characteristics and drug abuse patterns.
Abstract
The participants were located by outreach methods as part of the National AIDS Demonstration Research Program during 1989-91. Results revealed that in all cities, the drug injectors were predominantly undereducated and unemployed young men from minority groups. In Dallas and Houston, most were black, while in San Antonio most were Hispanic. The most frequently reported primary drug in Houston was cocaine, but in Dallas and San Antonio it was heroin. Findings also indicated that the high needle risk for AIDS and the low rates of positive HIV antibody tests in these samples present a special opportunity for AIDS prevention. Tables, author photographs and biographies, and 13 references (Author abstract modified)