A COMPARISON OF VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE USERS OF AMPHETAMINE, COCAINE AND HEROIN - 2 DISTINCT POPULATIONS

Aim. To compare the characteristics of heroin, cocaine and amphetamine users having no history of contact with services with those of a grou p in contact. Method. Multiple agency sampling and field work which in cluded 'snowballing' using 'privileged access interviewers'. Each subj ect underwent a structured interview which included the Severity of De pendency Scale (SDS), and completed a confidential, self-report questi onnaire. Setting. Three contrasting provincial urban locations. Partic ipants. Five hundred and eighty-one regular users of the target drugs. Of these, 380 (65%) denied any contact with police or helping agencie s in connection with drug use. Findings. Most zero-contact users (79%) expressed little or no concern about their drug use, and no wish for help or advice. They were much more likely to use stimulants only; les s likely ever to inject any drug or, for those that did, to share equi pment; less likely to use opioids, amphetamine or cocaine powder on a daily basis; more likely to use Ecstasy; and yielded significantly low er SDS scores for all target drugs save crack. Prevalence of crack use was lower, but the proportion of daily users was the same as in the c ontact group. Most (69%) contact users remained concerned about their drug use, but 58% expressed little or no confidence that local service s could meet their needs. In both groups, SDS scores for cocaine powde r were comparable to those for cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy. Of the 495 c annabis smokers identified (85% of the sample), 72% reported daily con sumption. Conclusions. The finding are consistent with the hypothesis that 'visible' and 'invisible' drug users are distinct populations in terms of behavioural characteristics, vulnerability to compulsive use, and prevalence of drug-related problems or concern. Purchasers and pr oviders with limited resources should concentrate on improving the ran ge and quality of services for users already in contact rather than at tempting to uncover invisible populations. On the basis of SDS scores, cocaine HCl seems to have a relatively modest addictive potential.