Using foil for drug administration
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using foil for drug administration: exploring the views and experiences of people who use drugs.
IRAS ID
304196
Contact name
Karen Dunleavy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of the West of Scotland
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine, can be smoked by inhaling the smoke produced by heating the drug on a piece of aluminium foil. Since 2014, foil has been provided by harm reduction services in Scotland to encourage smoking as a safer alternative to injecting. Smoking significantly reduces drug-related harms such as overdose and the transmission of infectious diseases. Though other health complications may arise. Since foil was first provided by injecting equipment provision (IEP) services, the uptake has increased by over 100% in a few years. Yet, little is known about its use.This 18 month study will explore the views of people attending IEP services about their experience of accessing foil; their use or non-use of foil; and its use among their drug using networks. We will conduct qualitative interviews with service users in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde to understand how and for what drugs foil is used, what benefits and harms they experience with its use, whether injecting practices have changed as a result and reasons for not smoking drugs with foil. We are interested in hearing their views on the potential of foil as a harm reduction intervention for reducing drug-related infections, overdoses and deaths in order to inform policy and practice. Each participant will be interviewed once.
Summary of Results
Among some participants, heroin was smoked with foil to reduce or avoid injecting-related harms (e.g. overdose, hepatitis C, abscesses) and to care for veins.As well as the above, a range of social, economic, and personal reasons were given for smoking rather than injecting heroin.
Some participants would not swap injecting with smoking heroin because of perceived disadvantages of smoking with foil, personal preference for injecting, or poor respiratory health.
Several participants described poor respiratory health (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or breathlessness) at times associated with heroin smoking.
Facilitators to picking up foil from IEP services included: proactive staff; views that IEP foil is safer to use than shop-bought household foil, and that shop-bought foil is too thin to use.
Barriers to picking up foil from IEP services included: views that the IEP foil provided was too thick to smoke with which wasted drugs; poor awareness of where to access foil; lack of foil promotion by services; and restrictive opening hours.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
21/WS/0150
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion