Questionnaire data similarly indicate that information about AIDS and AIDS risk reduction has been reaching this population. However, unlike among homosexuals, behavior change has been primarily at the individual and market levels and has not involved formal self-organization. This lack of self-organization has prevented collective demands and limited individual behavioral change, whereas the existence of gay self-organization has enabled a much stronger and more effective response to AIDS. The self-organization among gays has generated significant social support for the development of new belief systems and protective behavior patterns. While IV drug users face many barriers to self-organization, including the addiction itself and subcultural pressures not to change, they do appear to have long-standing social networks already in place that could serve as a resource for organizing the support necessary to promote greater awareness of AIDS and increased risk-reducing behaviors. 7 tables, 2 notes, and approximately 40 references.