The project anthropologist and outreach workers observed the steps in drug preparation and syringe rinsing. The study found that in addition to syringe contamination, other risk factors in intravenous drug use are the sharing of water, cookers, and cottons. Over 75 percent of the users questioned shared rinse water. The sharing of a cooker was the most common of the sharing activities. The most likely point of contamination besides the sharing of a contaminated needle is the sharing of water. Intravenous drug users require water to rinse the syringe and to mix with the drug to liquify it for injection. The danger from sharing water is that users often rinse their syringes in it immediately after injecting and before they use bleach. Drug injectors should be informed about the dangers of using water, cookers, spoons, and cottons that have been used by someone else. 25 references.