Initiation and/or re-initiation of drug use among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada from 2021 to 2022: a prospective cohort study.
Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy September 10, 2024 Anjali Sergeant, Paxton Bach, Jingxin Lei et al. 5 citations
Among 1061 people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada, 17.2% reported starting a new drug or restarting a previous drug between June 2021 and May 2022. Unregulated stimulants were the most common class (re-)initiated (55.2%), followed by opioids (40.4%) and psychedelics (19.7%). Drug (re-)initiation was independently linked to recent injection drug use (2.6 times higher odds), incarceration (3.4 times higher odds), and inability to access addiction treatment (4.9 times higher odds). The findings highlight that nearly one in five participants engaged in drug (re-)initiation during the pandemic-era overdose crisis, with those affected facing riskier behaviors and treatment barriers.