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This paper addresses syringe sharing, the primary method of HIV transmission among drug injectors. It argues that this high risk drug injection behavior cannot be adequately understood by relying on psychological and cultural explanations alone. Rather, this ethnographic study contends that, among drug injectors in Denver, syringes are shared because they are scarce, and they are scarce because they are illegal to possess without medical justification. A legal mandate combines with other aspects of law enforcement to discourage street-based drug users from carrying syringes, particularly when they are in the process of obtaining drugs. The result is that drug injectors are least likely to have syringes when they need them the most. This study concludes by suggesting that the paraphernalia laws currently in place in approximately 44 states and numerous municipalities may no longer
Stephen Koester (Thu,) studied this question.