Aileen O'Gorman
Aileen O'Gorman is Professor of Substance Use and Social Policy and Director of the Centre for Social, Health and Environmental Inequalities Research (SHEIR) at the University of the West of Scotland.
Currently, her primary research focus is on the social, structural and systemic determinants of drug-related deaths. She has a special interest in the framing and problematisation of social issues such as poverty and drug use; the unequal distribution of drug-related harms and deaths in marginalised communities; and the role of policy in the production and reproduction of harms and inequalities.
Aileen is an active participant in policy advocacy and research networks nationally and internationally. She is an elected Trustee of the ISSDP and of UWS Senate, and an appointed member of the Board of the Scottish Drugs Forum and the international editorial board of Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.
Session
Background: In 2014, harm reduction services in Scotland began providing sheets of foil, in addition to existing injecting equipment provision (IEP), to facilitate the smoking/inhalation of drugs. Uptake of foil is high, yet little is known about the drug using practices of those that avail of this service.
Aims: Research sought to explore drug use and modes of administration among service users and identify their needs in the context of changing drug trends.
Methods: Using a qualitative interpretivist methodology, 36 people accessing Glasgow IEP services were interviewed during 2022-23. Interviews were transcribed in full and a thematic analysis conducted, facilitated by NVivo. People with experience of heroin use and staff from harm reduction services participated in the Study Advisory Group. Research was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Scotland.
Results: Research participants provided insights into polymethod drug administration with frequent switching between smoking with foil and/or inhalation pipes, injecting and snorting. Choice of method was influenced by individual preferences for the method they felt best suited a substance while maximising pleasure and minimising risks in the environment they inhabited.
Implications: Polymethod drug use is an under explored area in drugs research. Modes of administration are more complex than simple linear route transitions from smoking to injecting and more flexible that the fixed binary drug using identities (in Scotland a ‘smoker’ or a ‘jagger’) that underpin much harm reduction policy and practice. Understanding these complexities helps inform appropriate policies that meet the needs of polymethod users and reduce drug-related harms.