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for taking the drug is wholly irrelevant in this process. Smoking heroin, arguably, leads to less of an addiction than injecting it, but it remains an addiction regardless of the manner in which the substance was ingested.

One writer has argued that many addicts are too far gone to worry about whether they reuse a needle, this suggests a lack of understanding or experience with such individuals. Whilst I have undoubtedly met many chaotic injecting drug users who may fit this description I would not, by any stretch of the imagination, categorise them as even a significant proportion, never mind the majority. Indeed, quite the reverse is often true. The problem is that making needles difficult to obtain increases the likelihood of injecting drug users reusing and sharing their equipment.

Allow me if you will, to paint a picture, in the hope that this clarifies the urgent need for well funded needle exchange programs. A young man has been dabbling in drug use for some time, his curiosity is especially piqued by more extreme experiences; much the same as some people find bungee jumping more to their taste than using a trampoline. Gradually, he becomes involved with ever more shady characters and eventually is offered heroin to smoke. His knowledge of drugs is limited, his understanding of the dangers based largely on misinformation from both his peers and the authorities. Let us make no mistake here, there are significant problems with drug education in both the US and the UK, with many so called "facts" being based on hearsay and circumstantial evidence. Young people know this and the "just say no" type messages are irrevocably damaged as a result. SO here we have one young man who believes his peers over the authorities; this is hardly unusual, after all who doesn't? After a while our young explorer feels the smoke is just not hitting the spot anymore, so he follows his peers advice and injects. Wow. What a ride! Clearly, he is unaware of the cost of this ride but for now it's the best experience he's had. But he's only just started injecting and he's sharing needles because they are hard to come by legally. He has a girlfriend who is getting worried about him and his occasional drug use. However the young lady loves him dearly and wants to help him. Indeed she is so in love with him that she agrees to sleep with him on several occasions. They are young, full of passion and not always as careful as they should be. They have unprotected sex. Eventually their relationship

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