Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 31, Issue 1 , Pages 51-57 , July 2006

Improving access to sterile syringes and safe syringe disposal for injection drug users in methadone maintenance treatment

  • Jennifer McNeely, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • ,
  • Julia H. Arnsten, M.D., M.P.H.

      Affiliations

    • Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
    • Division of Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
    • Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
  • ,
  • Marc N. Gourevitch, M.D., M.P.H.

      Affiliations

    • Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA

Received 25 October 2005 ,Revised 1 March 2006 ,Accepted 22 March 2006.

References 

  1. Academy for Academic Development . Access to sterile syringes. June 2000. Available at www.cdc.gov/idu/facts/aed_idu_acc.htm2004;Accessed March 9
  2. Ball JC, Ross A. The effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1991;
  3. Burris S, Welsh J, Ng M, Li M, Ditzler A. State syringe and drug possession laws potentially influencing safe syringe disposal by injection drug users. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 2002;42(6 Suppl 2):S94–S98
  4. Caplehorn JR, Hartel DM, Irwig L. Measuring and comparing the attitudes and beliefs of staff working in New York methadone maintenance clinics. Substance Use and Misuse. 1997;32:399–413
  5. De Irala J, Bigelow C, McCusker J, Hindin R, Zheng L. Reliability of self-reported human immunodeficiency virus risk behaviors in a residential drug treatment population. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1996;143:725–732
  6. Des Jarlais DC, Friedman SR, et al. Continuity and change within an HIV epidemic: Injecting drug users in New York City, 1984 through 1992. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1994;271:121–127
  7. Des Jarlais DC, McKnight C, Friedmann P. Legal syringe purchases by injection drug users, Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, 2000–2001. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 2002;42(6 Suppl 2):S73–S76
  8. Des Jarlais DC, Perlis T, et al. HIV incidence among injection drug users in New York City, 1990 to 2002. American Journal of Public Health. 2005;95:1444–1493
  9. Forman RF, Bovasso G, Woody G. Staff beliefs about addiction treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2001;21:1–9
  10. Frank B. An overview of heroin trends in New York City: Past, present and future. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine. 2000;67:340–346
  11. Fuller CM, Ahern J, Vadnai L, Coffin PO, Galea S, Factor SH, et al. Impact of increased syringe access: Preliminary findings on injection drug user syringe source, disposal, and pharmacy sales in Harlem, New York. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 2002;42(6 Suppl 2):S77–S82
  12. Gleghorn AA, Jones TS, Doherty MC, Celentano DD, Vlahov D. Acquisition and use of needles and syringes in Baltimore, Maryland. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1995;10:97–103
  13. Gleghorn AA, Wright-De Aguero L, Flynn C. Feasibility of one-time use of sterile syringes: A study of active injection drug users in seven United States metropolitan areas. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1998;18(Suppl 1):S30–S36
  14. Groseclose SL, Weinstein B, Jones TS, Valleroy LA, Fehrs LJ, Kassler WJ. Impact of increased legal access to needles and syringes on practices of injecting-drug users and police officers—Connecticut, 1992–1993. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1995;10:82–89
  15. Hartel DM, Schoenbaum EE, Selwyn PA, Friedland GH, Klein RS, Drucker E. Patterns of heroin, cocaine and speedball injection among Bronx (USA) methadone maintenance patients: 1978–1988. Addiction Research. 1997;8:394–404
  16. Latkin CA, Vlahov D. Socially desirable response tendency as a correlate of accuracy of self-reported HIV serostatus for HIV seropositive injection drug users. Addiction. 1998;93:1191–1197
  17. Lurie P, Jones TS, Foley J. A sterile syringe for every drug user injection: How many injections take place annually, and how might pharmacists contribute to syringe distribution?. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1998;18(Suppl 1):S45–S51
  18. Nadelmann EA, McNeely J. Doing methadone right. The Public Interest. 1996;123:83–93
  19. National Commission on AIDS . Full report: The twin epidemics of substance use and HIV. Washington, DC: US National Commission on AIDS; 1991;
  20. National Institutes of Health . Consensus development statement. Interventions to prevent HIV risk behaviors, February 11–13, 1997. Available at: consensus.nih.gov/cons/104/104_statement.htm2004;Accessed March 9
  21. In:  Normand J,  Vlahov D,  Moses LE editor. Preventing HIV transmission: The role of sterile needles and bleach. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1995;
  22. Pouget ER, Deren S, et al. Receptive syringe sharing among injection drug users in Harlem and the Bronx during the New York State Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 2005;39:471–477
  23. Reily E, Beilenson P, Vlahov D, Smith L, Koenig M, Jones TS, et al. Operation red box: A pilot project of needle and syringe drop boxes for injection drug users in East Baltimore. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1998;18(Suppl 1):S120–S125
  24. Remis RS, Bruneau J, Hankins CA. Enough sterile syringes to prevent HIV transmission among injection drug users in Montreal?. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology. 1998;18(Suppl 1):S57–S59
  25. Schechter MT, et al. Do needle exchange programs increase the spread of HIV infection among drug users?: An investigation of the Vancouver outbreak. AIDS. 1999;13:F45–F51
  26. Schoenbaum EE, Hartel DM, Gourevitch MN. Needle exchange use among a cohort of injecting drug users. AIDS. 1996;10:1729–1734
  27. Springer KW, Sterk CE, Jones TS, Friedman L. Syringe disposal options for injection drug users: A community-based perspective. Substance Use and Misuse. 1999;34:1917–1934
  28. Strathdee SA, et al. Needle exchange is not enough: Lessons from the Vancouver injecting drug use study. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. 1997;11:F59–F65
  29. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Public Health Service . HIV prevention bulletin: Medical advice for persons who inject illicit drugs. May 9, 1997. Available at: www.cdc.gov/idu/pubs/hiv_prev.htm2004;Accessed March 9
  30. Update: Syringe Exchange Programs—United States, 2002. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2005 Jul 15;54:673–676.
  31. Vlahov D. Role of needle exchange programs in AIDS prevention. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on Interventions to Prevent HIV Risk Behaviors, Program and Abstracts. NIH Consensus Development Conference, February 11–13, 1997. Available at: http://consensus.nih.gov/1997/1997PreventHIVRisk104html.htm2004;Accessed May 12

 Portions of this research were presented as a poster at the 131st Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, San Francisco, CA, November 15–19, 2003.

PII: S0740-5472(06)00087-0

doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2006.03.009

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 31, Issue 1 , Pages 51-57 , July 2006