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Article: Black tar heroin use explains lower HIV levels among injection drug users.
- Article from:
- Health & Medicine Week
- Article date:
- February 16, 2004
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2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) researchers have found that use of black tar heroin by injection drug users (IDUs) in West Coast cities accounts for a dramatically lower percentage of IDUs in these locations who are infected with HIV. The finding is based on comparison to East Coast cities, where powder heroin is commonly used.
"In the early 1990s, about 40% of IDUs in New York City were HIV-infected, while only about 4% of IDUs in Los Angeles were infected with HIV. Yet in both cities, about 25% of gay men were HIV-infected. The solution to this discrepancy is found in the distribution and use of black tar ...