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Text on inside cover of pad:

This isn’t about making injectors feel bad about their own injecting.
It is about how we can reduce the numbers of new injectors. Non-injectors often start to think about switching to injecting when they hear injectors talk about it, and see them do it. Not injecting in front of non-injectors and not talking about it to them, can help break the cycle.

Giving injectors a card from this pad and talking over how:

• And why the attraction of injecting grew
• Seeing and talking to other injectors influenced the decision to start
• The first injection happened

is a good start to the process of breaking the cycle.

You can help injectors avoid going along with giving people their first hit when they don’t really want to by talking about:

• The problem of dealing with pressure from non-injectors to give them their first hit, and how to deal with it
   
• Past experience of dealing with this pressure.

The reasons people might not want to inject someone else include:

• The feelings of guilt if anything happens to them in the future as a result of injecting
  - overdose, more severe addiction, HIV, hepatitis
   
• The risk of a manslaughter charge if the person dies
   
• The reaction of the person’s family and friends.

This sort of conversation can trigger feelings and memories.
Be sensitive - this is about helping people change things for the future, not making them feel bad about the past.

But it is worth doing because:

• Injecting is by far the most dangerous form of drug use
• Many injectors are aware of the influence other injectors had on their own decision to start
• It can reduce the number of times injectors get asked to give people their first hit
• Studies have shown that it can reduce the number of people starting to inject
• Most injectors don’t want to encourage people to start injecting
• Many injectors are not fully aware of the risks they take when giving people their first hit.

Text from card:

You inject but that doesn’t mean that you want to encourage others to do the same.
Without meaning to, that’s exactly what you could be doing by:

• Talking about injecting to non-injectors
• Injecting in front of non-injectors
• Giving people their first hit.

Think about whether you really want other people to end up doing what you’re doing.

Remember what influenced you to begin injecting
and if you don’t want to encourage non-injectors to start, then:

• Don’t talk about injecting to them or in front of them
• Don’t inject in front of them and if someone asks you to give them their first hit:
• Have a plan for what you could say
• Think about the risks to you - if they overdose you could end up in prison
• Think about the risks to them such as overdose, hepatitis and HIV.

Remember that refusing to inject someone is doing them a favour - even if they don’t see it like that at the time.

Think about it... Help break the cycle.

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