“Am I gonna get in trouble for acknowledging my will to be safe?”: Identifying the experiences of young sexual minority men and substance use in the context of an opioid overdose crisis

Table 1 Characteristics of participants

Participants	50
Age (average, range)	24.18 (18–30 years)
Ethnicity¹
White	26 (52%)
Aboriginal²	10 (20%)
Latin American	7 (14%)
South Asian	5 (10%)
Southeast Asian	2 (4%)
Chinese	2 (4%)
Korean	2 (4%)
Filipino	2 (4%)
Arab/West Asian	2 (4%)
Black	1 (2%)
Japanese	1 (2%)
Other	2 (4%)
Gender³
Cisgender man	44 (88%)
Transgender man	4 (8%)
Queer	4 (8%)
Genderqueer	2 (4%)
Non-binary	1 (2%)
Sexual orientation³
Gay	29 (58%)
Bisexual	14 (28%)
Pansexual	6 (12%)
Queer	4 (8%)
Straight	2 (4%)
Asexual	1 (2%)
Unsure	1 (2%)
Other (incl. homoflexible)	2 (4%)
Opioid use
Non-opioid substance use Both opioid and non-opioid substance use⁴	40 (80%) 10 (20%)
Substances used in the previous 12 months
Alcohol	47 (94%)
Cannabis	41 (82%)
MDMA	25 (50%)
Cocaine	20 (40%)
Poppers	20 (40%)
Mushrooms	20 (40%)
Meth	18 (36%)
Benzodiazepines Ketamine	11 (22%) 11 (22%)
Erectile dysfunction drugs	10 (20%)
GHB	9 (18%)
Speed	9 (18%)
T3s⁵	7 (14%)
Crack	5 (10%)
Heroin	5 (10%)
Fentanyl	4 (8%)
Opioids⁶	4 (8%)
LSD	4 (8%)
Methadone	3 (6%)
Steroids	3 (6%)
Ritalin	1 (2%)
Others⁷	8 (16%)

¹Some participants selected more than one ethnicity
²Although our sociodemographic survey included the term “Aboriginal,” which refers to the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, as defined by the Constitution Act of 1982, this term has traditionally been used in a generic sense and in legal contexts [53]. In this paper, we use the term “Indigenous,” which refers to first peoples internationally
³Some participants selected more than one gender identity and/or sexual orientation
⁴All participants who reported using opioids engaged in polysubstance use that included non-opioid substances
⁵T3s (Tylenol #3) contain acetaminophen, caffeine, and codeine
⁶Other physician-prescribed opioids than those listed here
⁷Other substances used by participants included: Prozac, Concerta, Adderall, Dexedrine, Methadrone, MxP, 2CE, and 2CC, 2C-T-7, 2C-B, 5-Me0-DMT, nn-DMT, 4-AcE-DMT, allylescaline, nitrous oxide (whippets)

ISSN: 1477-7517