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JAMA. 2001;285:2706.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 2001;50:377

This issue of MMWR focuses on injection drug use and highlights ways that state and local health departments monitor injection drug use-related health issues and develop interventions to prevent substance abuse and infections among injection drug users (IDUs). Substance abuse and addiction are major underlying causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States.¹ The risks increase when illicit substances are injected, which contributes to multiple health and social problems for IDUs, including transmission of bloodborne infections (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and hepatitis B and C infections) through sharing unsterile drug injection equipment and practicing unsafe sex.² In the United States, approximately one third of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome cases³ and one half of new hepatitis C cases⁴ are associated with injection drug use. Fatal drug overdoses also contribute to death among IDUs.⁵ Although the number of persons who inject illicit drugs (primarily heroin, cocaine, and amphetamine) . . . [Full Text of this Article]