er a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user has a feeling of euphoria, accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user experiences an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system.
             According to the 2002 findings of the IDRS, there was an increase in the prevalence and/or frequency of recent heroin use among IDUs in Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, most notably in Queensland where the proportion of heroin use in the preceding six months returned to that of the 2000 level. Recent heroin use remained stable in New South Wales and Victoria during 2002. However, in South Australia, the prevalence and frequency of use decreased in 2002. As was found to be true by the 2001 IDRS, heroin use in Tasmania and the Northern Territory remained uncommon in 2002 (Breen et al., 2003). These reports differed in the findings from the 2001 IDRS which reported an overall decrease in heroin usage in most jurisdictions across Australia (Topp, Darke, Bruno, Fry, Hargreaves, Humeniuk, McAllister, O'Reilly, & Willaims, 2001).
             Compared to the 2001 findings of the IDRS, the price of a gram of heroin decreased in all jurisdictions across Australia except South Australia. The price of a gram of heroin ranged from $300 in New South Wales (from $320 in 2001) to $550 in Western Australia (from $750 in 2001). The price of a cap of heroin remained $50 in all jurisdictions except the Northern Territory ($85) and Tasmania ($82.50). In 2002, heroin remained cheapest in New South Wales and most expensive in the Northern Territory (Breen, Degenhardt, Roxburgh, Bruno, Duquemin, Fetherston, Fischer, Jenkinson, Kinner, Longo, & Rushforth, 2003). Also, in 2002 IDU reports stated that the purity of the drug has decreased as was evident...