A new target for behavioural research--amphetamine misuse

Despite the increase in social research into drug misuse that has occurred in the wake of the AIDS pandemic, the focus of the research has tended to be overly restricted in terms of the populations studied. Younger, non-opiate, non-agency samples are more representative of national patterns of illicit drug use but have been relatively neglected in favour of older, opiate users receiving treatment from drug agencies. Amphetamine misuse illustrates the dangers of such sampling bias. In comparing the HIV-related risk behaviour of amphetamine injectors with that of heroin injectors, the data suggest that amphetamine misuse is associated with patterns of behaviour that have serious implications for the transmission of HIV infection.