The injection of methadone syrup in New South Wales: patterns of use and increased harm after partial banning of injecting equipment.

OBJECTIVE: To describe methadone injectors and the risk practices associated with injecting methadone in New South Wales, Australia. To assess the impact on injecting drug use and risk behaviour of the withdrawal of methadone injecting equipment from government-funded needle and syringe programs.

METHOD: Cross-sectional survey, conducted in 1999, of 206 people who had injected methadone at least once in the previous month. Participants were from Central Sydney, West Sydney and rural New South Wales.

RESULTS: Of participants who had injected both methadone and other drugs in the previous month (n=162), significantly more reused their methadone injecting equipment compared with those who reused their other drug injecting equipment (60% vs. 28%, p<0.01). There was no significant difference in terms of sharing injecting equipment, with 19% reporting sharing methadone injecting equipment and 14% sharing other drug injecting equipment. However, women were more likely than men to share methadone injecting equipment. Over half of the participants had accessed diverted methadone and a substantial minority reported the use of public spaces for injecting methadone.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the current policy has led to increased reuse of equipment for injecting methadone.

IMPLICATIONS: A range of other possible policy options, such as closer monitoring and dilution of take-home doses, increasing oral doses and implementing trials of injected methadone, may assist to reduce the prevalence of methadone syrup injection and related harms.