The drug treatment staff attitude towards needle exchange is what investigates in this study. The aim of this study is to see what’s affecting the standpoints in the needle exchange issue and also to investigate if the needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy. The study has a qualitative approach and it’s based on eight semi-structured interviews with drug treatment staff. To analyze the empirical material we’ve used Berger and Luckmanns social construction theory, the theoretical concept profession socialization and the four ethical principles: autonomy principle, goodness maximization principle, harm minimization principle and the principle of justice. The result of this study shows that drug treatment staffs are negative to needle exchange efficacy. They don’t believe that needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy which strives for a drug free society. The drug treatment staffs are worried about that harm reduction interventions, such as needle exchange, will lead to a liberalized drug policy and that drug use will be legitimized. They fear that the drug policy will be weakened with harm reduction. The results illustrate that there are numerous factors that influence staff attitudes towards needle exchange, these are profession socialization, workplace, organization, context, the current drug policy as well as knowledgeable of the needle exchange. Keywords: Needle exchange, Injection drug users, Drug treatment staff, Harm reduction and Swedish drug policy.

<p>The drug treatment staff attitude towards needle exchange is what investigates in this study. The aim of this study is to see what’s affecting the standpoints in the needle exchange issue and also to investigate if the needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy. The study has a qualitative approach and it’s based on eight semi-structured interviews with drug treatment staff. To analyze the empirical material we’ve used Berger and Luckmanns social construction theory, the theoretical concept profession socialization and the four ethical principles: autonomy principle, goodness maximization principle, harm minimization principle and the principle of justice.</p><p>The result of this study shows that drug treatment staffs are negative to needle exchange efficacy. They don’t believe that needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy which strives for a drug free society. The drug treatment staffs are worried about that harm reduction interventions, such as needle exchange, will lead to a liberalized drug policy and that drug use will be legitimized. They fear that the drug policy will be weakened with harm reduction. The results illustrate that there are numerous factors that influence staff attitudes towards needle exchange, these are profession socialization, workplace, organization, context, the current drug policy as well as knowledgeable of the needle exchange.</p><p>Keywords: Needle exchange, Injection drug users, Drug treatment staff, Harm reduction and Swedish drug policy.</p>