Drug abuse in Pakistan - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

DRUG INJECTING
Lahore profile
In Lahore a little more than half (52%) of the <strong>in</strong>jectors
said they <strong>in</strong>jected <strong>in</strong> groups, the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g 48%
said they <strong>in</strong>jected alone. Sixty-three per cent did not
use a new needle or syr<strong>in</strong>ge every time they <strong>in</strong>jected.
With regard to clean<strong>in</strong>g their syr<strong>in</strong>ges 35% said
they had never cleaned them, 60% reportedly
cleaned them very often and/or occasionally. In contrast
with the other cities, the <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong> Lahore
seem to use a wide range of methods for clean<strong>in</strong>g
their needles and syr<strong>in</strong>ges from cold and warm water
(32%), to boil<strong>in</strong>g (23%), bleach (29%) and spirit
(18%). It is worth not<strong>in</strong>g that the <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g drug users
<strong>in</strong> Lahore are the only group who reportedly were
us<strong>in</strong>g bleach to clean their equipment. In respect to
the shar<strong>in</strong>g of needles and syr<strong>in</strong>ges more than half
of the <strong>in</strong>jectors said they had never used syr<strong>in</strong>ges
used by others. Thirteen per cent reported us<strong>in</strong>g
three to five times after others, and 15% had used
more than 20 times after others. Similarly, 45% said
others had never used their syr<strong>in</strong>ges, while 22% said
others had used their syr<strong>in</strong>ges more than 20 times.
Quetta profile
In Quetta the highest percentage (84%) of all <strong>in</strong>jectors
used <strong>in</strong> groups of other users. However, 47%
had never used others’ syr<strong>in</strong>ges, while 25% said they
had used once or twice and 14% had used more than
20 times syr<strong>in</strong>ges used by others. On the other hand
38% of <strong>in</strong>jectors said others had used their syr<strong>in</strong>ges
once or twice, 27% said more than 20 times and
about 24% said other <strong>in</strong>jectors had never used their
syr<strong>in</strong>ges. Thirty-eight per cent of <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong> Quetta
cleaned their syr<strong>in</strong>ges very often, while 34% of <strong>in</strong>jectors
cleaned then occasionally. About 29% of the
<strong>in</strong>jectors had either never or almost never cleaned
their syr<strong>in</strong>ges. With regard to clean<strong>in</strong>g, 96% cleaned
their syr<strong>in</strong>ges with cold or warm water and a mere
4% cleaned them by boil<strong>in</strong>g.
Peshawar profile
The <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong> Peshawar seem to prefer <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g
alone as <strong>in</strong>dicated by 67% of the respondents.
Similar percentage of <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong>dicated that they
used a new needle every time they <strong>in</strong>jected.
Correspond<strong>in</strong>gly, almost half of the <strong>in</strong>jectors said
they never cleaned their needles, while the other half
either cleaned them very often or occasionally. More
than half boiled their syr<strong>in</strong>ges to clean them, whereas
one third cleaned them with cold or warm water.
Some 17% cleaned their needles and syr<strong>in</strong>ges with
spirit. Apparently the majority (64%) had never used
others’ needles and syr<strong>in</strong>ges, while 21% had used
others’ needles just once or twice. Similarly, 43% of
the <strong>in</strong>jectors said others had never used their needles
and syr<strong>in</strong>ges while some 29% said this might
have happened three to five times <strong>in</strong> the past 12
months.
<strong>Drug</strong> treatment history
The majority of <strong>in</strong>jectors (63%) had undergone treatment
for drug problems. The mean number of
episodes of treatment for drug problems, exclud<strong>in</strong>g
cannabis and alcohol, was 5.6 for the <strong>in</strong>jectors,
which is significantly higher than the mean times of
3.6 for non <strong>in</strong>jectors. With<strong>in</strong> cities, the <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g drug
users <strong>in</strong> Peshawar and Lahore had been treated
more times (mean 7.89 and 7.71 respectively) than
<strong>in</strong> Karachi (mean 4.96) and Quetta (mean 1.9).
The mean age for first treatment for drugs other than
alcohol and cannabis for <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g drug users is
25 years, whereas the m<strong>in</strong>imum age was 11 and
maximum 48 years. The <strong>in</strong>jectors’ mean age for first
treatment is lower than that of non-<strong>in</strong>jectors, for
whom the reported mean age is 26 years. With<strong>in</strong>
cities the mean age for first treatment of any drug
for <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong> Karachi and Lahore was reported
around 25 years, whereas it was around 24 for Quetta
and 23 years for <strong>in</strong>jectors <strong>in</strong> Peshawar. The mean
duration time of their last treatment was reported
as 30 days ago for <strong>in</strong>jectors—around 28 days <strong>in</strong>
Karachi, 34 and 33 days <strong>in</strong> Lahore and Quetta
respectively and around 20 days <strong>in</strong> Peshawar.
Arrest and imprisonment history
More than half of the <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g drug users <strong>in</strong>terviewed
had been imprisoned. The mean age for first
imprisonment was 27 years whereas the mean time
period between start<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>ject<strong>in</strong>g drug use and first
imprisonment was over 3 years, with over 2 times as
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