Interviewing illicit drug users: Observations from the field

Matched case control studies are rare within the field of illicit drug rese arch, This paper describes the practical problems involved in undertaking s uch a project, and details some of the issues that arose in conducting in-d epth longitudinal interviews with illicit drug users. Some problems were sp ecific to a matched case design, some were common to most social research: establishing trust, trying to ensure privacy during the interview, and poss ible communication problems. Others were more pertinent to interviews With illicit drug users: respondent intoxication, potential mental health proble ms, concerns about possible aggression, and dilemmas about witnessing illeg al acts. This paper aims to make explicit the proc ess of conducting longit udinal research with illicit drug users in the hope that it will encourage other social researchers to share their experiences and their strategies fo r negotiating fieldwork obstacles and hazards.