The NSW Users & AIDS Association

The term ‘safer using’ simply means: to make using and injecting drugs safer for yourself and your friends. Safer using is all about managing where, when and how you use.

Safer using covers everything from where drugs are scored to how they are prepared and used. At each of these stages there are numerous things that can be done to make the drug using experience safer.

One of the most important things is an understanding of blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV. Knowing about drug overdose and vein care is also important to safer using.

However, knowledge is one thing — putting that knowledge into practice can be just as challenging, especially as many users find themselves in all sorts of using situations which are far from ideal.

This section covers these topics and gives practical tips on how to be as healthy as possible when using.