Practical advice on medical complications of intravenous drug misuse

Injecting illicit drugs presents a large risk to health. Intravenous drug users may not be aware of all the dangers, especially those not in touch with specialist services. The pharmacist may be the only health care professional with whom the drug user has any contact. Steps can be taken to reduce the risks of harm from illicit drug use and the pharmacist can provide information on these steps. Specialist service providers can provide pharmacists with information and training to increase their confidence in dealing with intravenous drug users. This article has provided guidelines to the harm reduction approach that can be taken to care for injecting drug users, but only covers a few of the common medical conditions seen as a result of intravenous drug use. A quick reference guide on safer injecting advice is given in the Panel.