Since the early 1980s there has been a largely uncritical acceptance among health authorities that harm-reduction measures among intravenous drug users is an important strategy to prevent the transmission of blood-borne viruses. The main motivation for the urgent implementation of these policies was the feared transmission of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among intravenous drug users through unsafe injecting practices, mainly via sharing of needles and injecting equipment, and the wider commu…
