Safer use

When injecting heroin and other drugs, pathogens can be transmitted very easily. These include HIV and Hepatitis Viruses, which can lead to severe liver inflammation. Abscesses and phlebitis can also develop.

You can protect yourself against infections during drug use by always using only your own syringe and equipment. In general, snorting or smoking drugs is less risky than injecting them.

However, there is still a risk of infection when snorting. Therefore, you should never share tubes with others.

As a general rule, you should maintain the most hygienic conditions possible when using drugs. This reduces the risk of contracting viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Using only your own injection equipment and consuming under the most hygienic conditions possible is called safer use.

Safer Use Rules

• Always use your own sterile needle and syringe for every injection.
• Always use your own clean spoon. Many drug facilities offer "stericups," which are sterile boiling pans with filters.
• Only use filters once. Unused cigarette filters are recommended.
• Caution: Filters do not protect against disease-causing germs (pathogens)!
• Use only sterile water, fresh cold tap water, or still mineral water for boiling.
• Always use your own lighter.

Injecting Drugs

Blood residue on and inside the needle, as well as in the syringe, can contain high concentrations of HIV and other viruses and bacteria, even if the blood is not visible to the naked eye.

Therefore, you should always use your own injection equipment. Ideally, you should use a new one for every injection.

In many cities, there are facilities where sterile injection equipment is provided free of charge or for a very low price, or where you can exchange old syringes for new ones. Vending machines for syringes provide access around the clock.

If it is ever unavoidable to use previously used injection equipment, you should at least boil or disinfect it. Instructions for this can be found in the "Safer Use" brochure or on the Drug Portal of the German AIDS Service Organization.

If even that is not possible, it is recommended to snort the drug rather than inject it. This way, withdrawal symptoms can be managed until you can get new injection equipment.

Snorting Drugs

Some drugs are drawn into the nose through a tube, especially cocaine and speed. Heroin can also be snorted.

The risks associated with snorting are lower than those of injecting.

Caution: Through tiny injuries in the nasal mucosa that easily occur during snorting, Hepatitis Viruses can get onto and inside the tubes and be transmitted to others. Since drugs can irritate and injure the nasal mucosa, it absorbs viruses particularly easily afterward.

Therefore, you should always use only your own tube when snorting!

Rolled banknotes should not be used for snorting at all. They have usually passed through many hands and are often full of pathogens.

Smoking Drugs

Smoking crack or methamphetamine creates high temperatures that can lead to injuries to the lips and mucous membranes in the mouth. Due to the numbing effect, such injuries are often noticed only later.

To prevent Hepatitis C infections, it is important that your crack pipe goes into your mouth only.

Clean Equipment for Drug Use

Pathogens can be transmitted not only via the syringe, but also through other equipment used when injecting drugs. These include filters, spoons, and lighters. Used tools harbor a very high risk of hepatitis, in particular.

Caution: Water used during injection can also transmit diseases because it is an ideal breeding ground for fungi and bacteria.

Sharing Drugs with Others

Some drug users share a common supply by first boiling it up, drawing it into a syringe, and then - measured by the graduation marks on the syringe - passing it on.

In this process, each user draws their share out of the first syringe using their own syringe. However, this method is still risky. If the first syringe or needle, the water, or the filter has already been used, viruses, bacteria, and fungi can be transmitted.

To divide drugs fairly, there is only one hygienic solution: divide the powder, and let each person choose their own portion. Then, everyone uses their own syringe and equipment.