Drug users' access to community based services

This paper reports the results of an ethnographic study of the accessibility of specialist, primary health care services for drug users. The data collected included notes and transcripts of interviews with workers and users at drugs agencies in London, observation notes and secondary source materials. In considering the study's results, particular attention is paid to informants' experiences and perceptions of access within four grand themes: the influence of public policy, the characteristics of the services provided, the social context in which services are utilized, and the impact of perceived 'community' views of drugs services and drug users. The most fundamental influences on access seem to relate to drug users' marginalized status and the importance of their not being conspicuously identified as drug users when using services.