The extent of injecting and syringe sharing in prison reported by Edinburgh drug clinic attenders

68 outpatient attenders at Edinburgh's Community Drug Problem Service who reported a history of drug injecting and who had spent 1 week or more in prison between March 1987-March 1990 were interviewed about drug injecting behaviour and syringe sharing before and during each prison episode they reported. One-third of those injecting prior to prison continued to do so in prison, most doing so twice weekly or more. 80% of prison injectors shared syringes in prison. No subjects commenced their injecting career in prison, and being imprisoned did not cause past injectors who had stopped to resume injecting in custody. Being imprisoned tended to cause non-sharing injectors to resume sharing in prison. Prison injectors tended to have started both their oral and their injecting drug use careers at an earlier age, and to have been sharing syringes in the community prior to custody. Half of prison sharers used unofficially acquired bleach or disinfectant to sterilise injecting equipment. Continuing involvement with the courts and thus risk of reimprisonment was common. The findings support the case for harm reduction policies in Scottish prisons, and diversion from custody and into treatment for this high risk group.