Articles

Reporting and methodological quality of systematic literature reviews evaluating the associations between e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking behaviors: a systematic quality review

Several published systematic reviews have examined the potential associations between e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking, but their methodological and/or reporting quality have not yet been assessed. This s...

Authors: Mimi M. Kim, Lynley Pound, Isabella Steffensen and Geoffrey M. Curtin

Decolonizing drug policy

This paper reviews evidence of how drug control has been used to uphold colonial power structures in select countries. It demonstrates the racist and xenophobic impact of drug control policy and proposes a pat...

Authors: Colleen Daniels, Aggrey Aluso, Naomi Burke-Shyne, Kojo Koram, Suchitra Rajagopalan, Imani Robinson, Shaun Shelly, Sam Shirley-Beavan and Tripti Tandon

Telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment in low-barrier clinic settings: an exploration of clinician and staff perspectives

The majority of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) face access barriers to evidence-based treatment, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the United States (US) opioid overdose crisis. However, th...

Authors: Shoshana V. Aronowitz, Eden Engel-Rebitzer, Abby Dolan, Kehinde Oyekanmi, David Mandell, Zachary Meisel, Eugenia South and Margaret Lowenstein

The impact of COVID-19 on people who inject drugs in New York City: increased risk and decreased access to services

While people who inject drugs (PWID) are vulnerable to the adverse outcomes of events like COVID-19, little is known regarding the impact of the current pandemic on PWID. We examine how COVID-19 has affected P...

Authors: Yesenia Aponte-Melendez, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, Chunki Fong, Benjamin Eckhardt, Shashi Kapadia and Kristen Marks

The impact of Taiwan’s implementation of a nationwide harm reduction program in 2006 on the use of various illicit drugs: trend analysis of first-time offenders from 2001 to 2017

After implementing a nationwide harm reduction program in 2006, a dramatic decline in the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among people with injection drug use (IDU) was observed in Ta...

Authors: Wei J. Chen, Chi-Ya Chen, Shang-Chi Wu, Kevin Chien-Chang Wu, Susyan Jou, Yu-Chi Tung and Tzu-Pin Lu

Implementation and first-year operating costs of an academic medical center-based syringe services program

Syringe services programs (SSPs) remain highly effective, cost-saving interventions for the prevention of blood-borne infections among people who inject drugs. However, there have been restrictions regarding f...

Authors: Tyler S. Bartholomew, Hardik Patel, Kathryn McCollister, Daniel J. Feaster and Hansel E. Tookes

Assessing the relationship between syringe exchange, pharmacy, and street sources of accessing syringes and injection drug use behavior in a pooled nationally representative sample of people who inject drugs in the United States from 2002 to 2019

Provision of sterile syringes is an evidence-based strategy of reducing syringe sharing and reusing and yet, access to sterile syringes through pharmacies and syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in the United Sta...

Authors: Phillip L. Marotta, Kristi Stringer, Leo Beletsky, Brooke S. West, Dawn Goddard-Eckrich, Louisa Gilbert, Tim Hunt, Elwin Wu and Nabila El-Bassel

Prevalence and characteristics of ever regular use of non-combustible nicotine for 1 year or more: a population survey in England

Up-to-date monitoring of non-combustible nicotine products (e.g. e-cigarettes, nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), heated tobacco products (HTP); NNP) is important to assess their impact. To date, there is l...

Authors: Sharon Cox, Jamie Brown, Loren Kock and Lion Shahab

Correction to: An exploratory non-randomized study of a 3-month electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) intervention with people accessing a homeless supported temporary accommodation service (STA) in Ireland

Authors: Florian Scheibein, Kevin McGirr, Andy Morrison, Warren Roche and John Stephen Gary Wells

“Prevention of opioid use disorder: the HOME (housing, opportunities, motivation and engagement) feasibility study”

Young adults experiencing homelessness are at high risk of opioid and other substance use, poor mental health outcomes, exposure to trauma, and other risks. Providing access to stable housing has the potential...

Authors: Kelly J. Kelleher, Ruri Famelia, Tansel Yilmazer, Allen Mallory, Jodi Ford, Laura J. Chavez and Natasha Slesnick

Theoretically informed gender analysis for gambling harm reduction: a New Zealand study

Gambling harm affects men and women relatively equally, and gender influences the social determinants of gambling harm. Responses to preventing and minimising women’s gambling harm have been shaped and constra...

Authors: Katie Palmer du Preez, Anna-Marie Paavonen and Maria E. Bellringer

Predicting the impact of placing an overdose prevention site in Philadelphia: a mathematical modeling approach

Fatal overdoses from opioid use and substance disorders are increasing at an alarming rate. One proposed harm reduction strategy for reducing overdose fatalities is to place overdose prevention sites—commonly ...

Authors: Joanna R. Wares, Jing Dong, Jana L. Gevertz, Ami Radunskaya, Kendra Vine, Doug Wiebe and Sara Solomon

Estimation of the global number of e-cigarette users in 2020

The combustion of tobacco is the main cause of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. E-cigarettes are potentially disruptive innovations with considerable potential for population health. A key question is ...

Authors: Tomasz Jerzyński, Gerry V. Stimson, Harry Shapiro and Grzegorz Król

Non-beverage alcohol consumption among individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in Edmonton, Canada: a cross-sectional study

Among individuals experiencing homelessness, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder is extremely high. Alcohol-related harms are compounded by the use of non-beverage alcohol (NBA; e.g. rubbing alcohol, cookin...

Authors: Jean Nicolas Westenberg, Mostafa Mamdouh Kamel, Sindi Addorisio, Mohammad Abusamak, James S. H. Wong, Ava Outadi, Kerry L. Jang and R. Michael Krausz

Generating evidence on the use of Image and performance enhancing drugs in the UK: results from a scoping review and expert consultation by the Anabolic Steroid UK network

The use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and associated image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) is now a global phenomenon. There is a need to develop evidence to support the development of interven...

Authors: Jim McVeigh, Evelyn Hearne, Ian Boardley, Geoff Bates, Vivian Hope, Rob Ralphs and Marie Claire Van Hout

Facilitators and barriers to the regulation of medical cannabis: a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature

In recent decades, several political, legislative, judicial, consumer, and commercial processes around the world have advanced legalization efforts for the use of medical cannabis (MC). As the use of MC evolve...

Authors: Mohammad Ali Ruheel, Zoya Gomes, Sana Usman, Pargol Homayouni and Jeremy Y. Ng

“I would rather do it myself”: injection initiation and current injection patterns among women who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico

Women who inject drugs (WWID) experience unique risks and adverse health outcomes related to injection initiation and patterns of injection drug use. However, there is limited information on injection initiati...

Authors: Allison Stewart, Brooke S. West, Claudia Rafful, Kenya Lazos, Jennifer Jain, Patricia Gonzalez-Zuniga and Teresita Rocha-Jimenez

Xylazine detected in unregulated opioids and drug administration equipment in Toronto, Canada: clinical and social implications

The North American opioid overdose crisis is driven in large part by the presence of unknown psychoactive adulterants in the dynamic, unregulated drug supply. We herein report the first detection of the psycho...

Authors: Jeanette M. Bowles, Karen McDonald, Nazlee Maghsoudi, Hayley Thompson, Cristiana Stefan, Daniel R. Beriault, Sarah Delaney, Ernest Wong and Dan Werb

Recovery capital among people receiving treatment for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine

Recovery is a multidimensional process that includes health, quality of life, and citizenship. Recovery capital is a strengths-based concept representing the sum of an individual’s resources that support recov...

Authors: Anna Beth Parlier-Ahmad, Mishka Terplan, Dace S. Svikis, Laura Ellis and Caitlin E. Martin

Hepatitis C reinfection in former and active injecting drug users in Belgium

There is currently no systematic screening for hepatitis C (HCV) reinfection in people who inject drugs (PWID) after treatment in Belgium. However, in a recent meta-analysis, the overall HCV reinfection rate w...

Authors: Dana Busschots, Rob Bielen, Özgür M. Koc, Leen Heyens, Rita Verrando, Chantal de Galocsy, Christophe Van Steenkiste, Frederik Nevens, Håvard Midgard, Olav Dalgard and Geert Robaeys

Interaction and conflict between outreach workers and research officers in implementing collaborative action research in the field of harm reduction: a qualitative study

The effectiveness of collaborative approaches in health interventions is underlined in the literature. Given the serious challenges to adequately managing the HCV epidemic in people who inject drugs (PWID), an...

Authors: Nicolas Khatmi, David Michels, Daniela Rojas Castro and Perrine Roux

Correction to: Third party drug checking: accessing harm reduction services on the behalf of others

Authors: Ashley Larnder, Piotr Burek, Bruce Wallace and Dennis K. Hore

Third party drug checking: accessing harm reduction services on the behalf of others

Drug checking uses chemical analytical technologies to analyze drugs from the unregulated market to reduce substance use-related risks. We aim to examine the frequency of third party use of a community drug ch...

Authors: Ashley Larnder, Piotr Burek, Bruce Wallace and Dennis K. Hore

“It is the One Thing that has Worked”: facilitators and barriers to switching to nicotine salt pod system e-cigarettes among African American and Latinx people who smoke: a content analysis

Electronic cigarettes are a harm reduction strategy for individuals who smoke cigarettes who cannot or do not want to quit using FDA-approved cessation methods. Identifying perceived facilitators and barriers ...

Authors: Kim Pulvers, Myra Rice, Jasjit S. Ahluwalia, Michael J. Arnold, Crystal Marez and Nicole L. Nollen

Investigation on heroin and cocaine quality in Luxembourg

Heroin and cocaine are among the most dangerous illicit drugs available and their presence on the market is increasing. These facts have led to the investigation of the quality of heroin and cocaine samples se...

Authors: Adèle Bourmaud, Georges Dahm, François Meys, Nicolas Gengler, Alain Origer and Serge Schneider

Development and testing of relative risk-based health messages for electronic cigarette products

Health messages on e-cigarette packs emphasise nicotine addiction or harms using similar wording to warnings on cigarette packs. These may not be appropriate for e-cigarettes which constitute a reduced risk al...

Authors: Catherine Kimber, Sharon Cox, Daniel Frings, Ian P. Albery and Lynne Dawkins

How a sample of English stop smoking services and vape shops adapted during the early COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods cross-sectional survey

The COVID-19 pandemic in England led to major changes in the delivery of support via stop smoking services (SSS) and to the widespread temporary closure of bricks and mortar e-cigarette retailers (vape shops h...

Authors: Sharon Cox, Emma Ward, Louise Ross and Caitlin Notley

Correction to: Hostility, compassion and role reversal in West Virginia’s long opioid overdose emergency

Authors: Jeff Ondocsin, Sarah G. Mars, Mary Howe and Daniel Ciccarone

Prevalence and correlates of non-fatal overdose among people who use drugs: findings from rapid assessments in Massachusetts, 2017–2019

People who experience non-fatal overdose (NFOD) are at high risk of subsequent overdose. With unprecedented increases in fentanyl in the US drug supply, many Massachusetts (MA) communities have seen a surge in...

Authors: Shikhar Shrestha, Thomas J. Stopka, Jaclyn M. W. Hughto, Patricia Case, Wilson R. Palacios, Brittni Reilly and Traci C. Green

Drug use, homelessness and health: responding to the opioid overdose crisis with housing and harm reduction services

Canada is in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis and Alberta has one of the highest opioid use rates across the country. Populations made vulnerable through structural inequities who also use opioids, such ...

Authors: Katrina Milaney, Jenna Passi, Lisa Zaretsky, Tong Liu, Claire M. O’Gorman, Leslie Hill and Daniel Dutton

A drug-related Good Samaritan Law and calling emergency medical services for drug overdoses in a Canadian setting

People who use drugs (PWUD) are known to fear calling emergency medical services (EMS) for drug overdoses. In response, drug-related Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs) have been widely adopted in the USA and Canada to...

Authors: Soroush Moallef, JinCheol Choi, M.-J. Milloy, Kora DeBeck, Thomas Kerr and Kanna Hayashi

Food access among people who inject drugs in West Virginia

The substance use epidemic in the United States continues to drive high levels of morbidity and mortality, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID). Poor access to food often co-occurs with drug use a...

Authors: Saba Rouhani, Sean T. Allen, Sara Whaley, Rebecca Hamilton White, Allison O’Rourke, Kristin E. Schneider, Michael E. Kilkenny, Brian W. Weir and Susan G. Sherman

Opioid overdose crises during the COVID-19 pandemic: implication of health disparities

Recent data suggest a disproportionate impact of opioid overdoses on Black Americans. The study aims to describe emergency department (ED) visits at a Southern, urban ED pertaining to opioid overdose and assoc...

Authors: Ishika Patel, Lauren A. Walter and Li Li

“It’s like ‘liquid handcuffs”: The effects of take-home dosing policies on Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) patients’ lives

Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) is widely recognized as one of the most effective ways of reducing risk of overdose, arrest, and transmission of blood-borne viruses like HIV and HCV among people that use...

Authors: David Frank, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, David C. Perlman, Suzan M. Walters, Laura Curran and Honoria Guarino

High-dose intravenous hydromorphone for patients who use opioids in the hospital setting: time to reduce the barriers

Individuals who use opioids have higher rates of hospitalization compared to the general population. Insufficiently treated withdrawal and pain are major factors contributing to high rates of self-initiated ho...

Authors: Laura E. Labonté and Samantha Young

Sexualized drug injection among men who have sex with men in Madrid and Barcelona as the first episode of drug injecting

We estimate the prevalence of drug injection, the variables associated with having ever injected and the proportion of ever injectors whose first drug injection was for having sex; we describe the first drug i...

Authors: Juan-Miguel Guerras, Patricia García de Olalla, María José Belza, Luis de la Fuente, David Palma, Jorge del Romero, Jorge-Néstor García-Pérez and Juan Hoyos

A qualitative study on overdose response in the era of COVID-19 and beyond: how to spot someone so they never have to use alone

Spotting is an informal practice among people who use drugs (PWUD) where they witness other people using drugs and respond if an overdose occurs. During COVID-19 restrictions, remote spotting (e.g., using a te...

Authors: Melissa Perri, Natalie Kaminski, Matthew Bonn, Gillian Kolla, Adrian Guta, Ahmed M. Bayoumi, Laurel Challacombe, Marilou Gagnon, Natasha Touesnard, Patrick McDougall and Carol Strike

Factors affecting addiction severity index (ASI) among clients enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program in Myanmar

Opioid substitution with methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is shown to reduce illicit opioid use and renew social functioning. Understanding factors that undermine clients’ social functioning during MMT tr...

Authors: Sun Tun, B. Vicknasingam and Darshan Singh

Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) as harm reduction: a qualitative study exploring views of women with histories of opioid misuse

The sharp rise in opioid use disorder (OUD) among women coupled with disproportionally high rates of unintended pregnancy have led to a four-fold increase in the number of pregnant women with OUD in the United...

Authors: Stephani L. Stancil, Melissa K. Miller, Alex Duello, Sarah Finocchario-Kessler, Kathy Goggin, Rachel P. Winograd and Emily A. Hurley

What are the ethical implications of using prize-based contingency management in substance use? A scoping review

The area of substance use is notable for its early uptake of incentives and wealth of research on the topic. This is particularly true for prize-based contingency management (PB-CM), a particular type of incen...

Authors: Marilou Gagnon, Alayna Payne and Adrian Guta

“We're actually more of a likely ally than an unlikely ally”: relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement

Syringe services programs provide sterile injection supplies and a range of health services (e.g., HIV and HEP-C testing, overdose prevention education, provision of naloxone) to a hard-to-reach population, in...

Authors: Carol Y. Franco, Angela E. Lee-Winn, Sara Brandspigel, Musheng L. Alishahi and Ashley Brooks-Russell

Treatment experiences for skin and soft tissue infections among participants of syringe service programs in North Carolina

Bacterial and fungal infections, such as skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) and infective endocarditis (IE), are increasing among people who use drugs in the United States. Traditional healthcare settings...

Authors: Mary C. Figgatt, Zach R. Salazar, Louise Vincent, Diannee Carden-Glenn, Kelly Link, Lauren Kestner, Tyler Yates, Asher Schranz, Elizabeth Joniak-Grant and Nabarun Dasgupta

Impact of tobacco and/or nicotine products on health and functioning: a scoping review and findings from the preparatory phase of the development of a new self-report measure

Measuring self-reported experience of health and functioning is important for understanding the changes in the health status of individuals switching from cigarettes to less harmful tobacco and/or nicotine pro...

Authors: Esther F. Afolalu, Erica Spies, Agnes Bacso, Emilie Clerc, Linda Abetz-Webb, Sophie Gallot and Christelle Chrea

Hidden populations: risk behaviours in drug-using populations in the Republic of Georgia through subsequent peer-driven interventions

Georgia has a significant risk of ongoing HIV and HCV outbreak. Within this context, harm reduction aims to reduce risk associated with drug use through community activities, such as peer recruitment and invol...

Authors: Cale Lawlor, Marine Gogia, Irma Kirtadze, Keti Stvilia, Guranda Jikia and Tamar Zurashvili

Substance use and overdose risk: documenting the perspectives of formerly incarcerated persons in the Fraser East region of BC

The relationship between incarceration and risk of overdose has been well-documented in the literature, but few studies document the perspectives of persons at risk of overdose who were incarcerated. This sub-...

Authors: Celine McCaughran-Contreras, Saranee Fernando, Mike Sikora, Jennifer Hawkins, Marinel Kniseley, Daniel Snyder, Connie Long, James Robson, Amanda Slaunwhite and Amy Salmon

Municipal police support for harm reduction services in officer-led referrals of people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico

Police constitute a structural determinant of health and HIV risk of people who inject drugs (PWID), and negative encounters with law enforcement present significant barriers to PWID access to harm reduction s...

Authors: Pieter Baker, Jaime Arredondo, Annick Borquez, Erika Clairgue, Maria L. Mittal, Mario Morales, Teresita Rocha-Jimenez, Richard Garfein, Eyal Oren, Eileen Pitpitan, Steffanie A. Strathdee, Leo Beletsky and Javier A. Cepeda

Willingness to use a wearable device capable of detecting and reversing overdose among people who use opioids in Philadelphia

The incidence of opioid-related overdose deaths has been rising for 30 years and has been further exacerbated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Naloxone can reverse opioid overdose, lower death rates, and enable a...

Authors: Katie Kanter, Ryan Gallagher, Feyisope Eweje, Alexander Lee, David Gordon, Stephen Landy, Julia Gasior, Haideliza Soto-Calderon, Peter F. Cronholm, Ben Cocchiaro, James Weimer, Alexis Roth, Stephen Lankenau and Jacob Brenner

Injections and infections: understanding syringe service program utilization in a rural state

Increasing rates of injection drug use (IDU) associated-infections suggest significant syringe service program (SSP) underutilization. Our study objective was to assess practices of safe injection techniques a...

Authors: Kinna Thakarar, Nitysari Sankar, Kimberly Murray, Frances L. Lucas, Debra Burris and Robert P. Smith

Perceived physical health outcomes of direct-acting antiviral treatment for hepatitis C: a qualitative study

Novel health promotion and treatment uptake initiatives will be necessary to ensure Australia meets 2030 hepatitis C elimination targets. Increasing treatment uptake will be assisted by a better understanding ...

Authors: Stelliana Goutzamanis, Danielle Horyniak, Joseph S. Doyle, Margaret Hellard and Peter Higgs

Exploring the use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a convenience sample

The use of cannabis as medicine (CaM) both prescribed and non-prescribed has increased markedly in the last decade, mirrored in a global shift in cannabis policy towards a more permissive stance. There is some...

Authors: Sinikka L. Kvamme, Michael M. Pedersen, Kristine Rømer Thomsen and Birgitte Thylstrup