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I've seen a fair number of young people over the years (under 18) who have presented with endocarditis, other infections, HIV, hepatitis, etc., from shooting up different drugs. Many of them were confused kids who ran away from home, and wound up with their life in shambles. A common theme was that they were recognized by, and preyed upon by people generally significantly older than them (for young girls, often and older guy who got them started shooting up).

I don't want to debate the mistakes and responsibilities of the under 18 yr-olds, but would just like to make the point that I think there should be severe penalties for anyone who contributes to the delinquency of under-age kids. This should also include those gang members that recruit underage kids. If a minor is found to be part of a gang, the gang leaders should be arrested for recruiting them.