Ciccarone D, Bourgois P
Urban Health Study, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94110, USA.
Subst Use Misuse. 2003 Dec;38(14):2049-63. doi: 10.1081/ja-120025125.
Distinct physical and chemical types of street heroin exist worldwide, but their impact on behavior and disease acquisition is not well understood or documented. This article presents a hypothesis to explain the unequal diffusion of HIV among injection drug users in the United States by examining the distribution and use of one type of heroin--"Mexican black tar." Drawing on ethnographic, clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory data, we suggest that the chemical properties of black tar heroin promote the following safer injection practices: (1) the rinsing of syringes with water to prevent clogging; (2) the heating of cookers to promote dissolution; and (3) a rapid transition from venous injection to subcutaneous or intramuscular injections.
世界各地存在着不同物理和化学类型的街头海洛因,但它们对行为和疾病感染的影响尚未得到充分理解或记录。本文提出一个假设,通过研究一种海洛因——“墨西哥黑焦油”的分布和使用情况,来解释美国注射吸毒者中艾滋病毒传播不均的现象。基于人种志、临床、流行病学和实验室数据,我们认为黑焦油海洛因的化学特性促使了以下更安全的注射行为:(1)用水冲洗注射器以防止堵塞;(2)加热煮具以促进溶解;(3)从静脉注射迅速转变为皮下或肌肉注射。