Steroid use was on the increase, Mr Tony Geoghegan, the chief executive of Merchants Quay Ireland, said, but had not been recognised by the national drug strategy. Because it is a “furtive area”, steroid users were not inclined to go to their GP, so needle-exchange services were “ideal” to engage with them. “A lot of steroid users don’t identify themselves as drug users . . . a lot of steroid users would still be in employment and working, so we need to have services that are at the weekend and in the evening if we are going to capture this client group,” he said.
The report found 167 drug users were receiving methadone prescribed by GPs, but only one was using it as a sole drug. The remainder were using it with other drugs, chiefly heroin. (Times) >
Filed under: Medicines, Patients Tagged: Drug abuse, Steroids
