Motives for and Against Injecting Drug Use Among Young Adults in Amsterdam: Qualitative Findings and Considerations for Disease Prevention

To elucidate injection initiation and risky injection practices among young drug users (YDUs) in Amsterdam, this study identifies self-reported motives for injecting and not injecting to inform interventions to be targeted at issues personally relevant for this population. A qualitative study was performed using in-depth interviews to obtain retrospective drug use histories. Recruitment took place both directly (by street outreach, outreach at methadone outposts) and indirectly (by respondent-driven sampling). The study started in the year 2001 and included 50 YDUs, aged 18–30, of which 18 had a history of injecting. Reasons for not starting injection were fears of needles, overstepping a limit, damage to appearance, fears of missing veins and causing abscesses, and illnesses. Reasons for starting injection were stronger effect or rush, curiosity, economy, knowing injectors, and perceived lack of danger to health. Motives for injecting and not injecting can differ widely individually. Some strong motives are hardly addressed by prevention programs and should inform new prevention initiatives. Users’ own motives for not injecting should be promoted, whereas their motives for initiation should be counter-balanced with factual information.