Experience is the best teacher. What’s the lesson?

~ Jason Schwartz
(source)

From a 1995 study:

As recently as 1988, researchers in New York City suggested the adoption of crack smoking, in lieu of intravenous cocaine use, as a mechanism of AIDS risk reduction (Des Jarlais and Friedman, 1988). However, recent studies indicate that when compared with intravenous drug users, crack smokers may be at equal or greater risk for HIV and other STD infections.

Inciardi J. A. (1995). Crack, crack house sex, and HIV risk. Archives of sexual behavior, 24(3), 249–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541599

As we watch a transition from injection opioids to other routes of administration and other drugs, what lessons are out there for us?

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Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.