Attitudes of Oral and Intravenous Multiple Drug Users toward Drugs of Abuse

Abstract

This semantic differential study investigates the attitudes toward drugs of abuse of oral and intravenous users within inpatient and outpatient settings in a London clinic. Differences between intravenous and oral users were more important than between inpatients and outpatients. Oral users tended to evaluate drugs other than heroin more positively than intravenous users, and both groups evaluated methadone favorably. The strength of a drug appears to be a determinant of preference for injectors but not for oral users. Linctus preparations of drugs are not favored by dependents, and these may reduce the abuse potential of a given drug. The treatment implications of these and other findings are discussed.