ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2018
"It Ruined My Life": The effects of the War on Drugs on people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- "It didn't hurt me": patients' and providers' perspectives on unsupervised take-home doses, drug diversion, and overdose risks in the provision of medication for opioid use disorder during COVID-19 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- "I don't want to die": a qualitative study of coping strategies to prevent fentanyl-related overdose deaths among people who inject drugs and its implications for harm reduction policies.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- "The Drug Sellers Were Better Organized than the Government": A Qualitative Study of Participants' Views of Drug Markets during COVID-19 and Other Big Events.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Article
- COVID-19 risks among people who inject drugs in Puerto Rico.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- People, places, and stigma: A qualitative study exploring the overdose risk environment in rural Kentucky.The International journal on drug policy · 2020Article
- "Caballo": risk environments, drug sharing and the emergence of a hepatitis C virus epidemic among people who inject drugs in Puerto Rico.Harm reduction journal · 2020Article
- Hepatitis C treatment uptake among people who inject drugs in the oral direct-acting antiviral era.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2020Article
- Competing forces of withdrawal and disease avoidance in the risk networks of people who inject drugs.PloS one · 2020Article
- Injection risk norms and practices among migrant Puerto Rican people who inject drugs in New York City: The limits of acculturation theory.The International journal on drug policy · 2019Article
- World Opioid and Substance Use Epidemic: A Latin American Perspective.Psychiatric research and clinical practice · 2019Article
- Establishing trust in HIV/HCV research among people who inject drugs (PWID): Insights from empirical research.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe War on Drugs has raised the incarceration rates of racial minorities for non-violent drug-related crimes, profoundly stigmatized drug users, and redirected resources from drug prevention and treatment to militarizing federal and local law enforcement. Yet, while some states consider shifting their punitive approach to drug use, to one based on drug treatment and rehabilitation, nothing suggests that these policy shifts are being replicated in Puerto Rico.
methodsThis paper utilizes data from 360 PWID residing in four rural towns in the mountainous area of central Puerto Rico. We initially recruited 315 PWID using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and collected data about risk practices and conducted HIV and HCV testing. During a second phase, we conducted 34 micro-ethnographic assays, in which we randomly recruited 34 participants from the first phase and included their ego networks in this phase. Our ethnographic inquiry produced significant data regarding the effects of the war on drugs on the local drug trade, drug availability, and injectors' social networks.
resultsFindings suggest that repressive policing has been ineffective in preventing drug distribution and use among those in our study. This type of law enforcement approach has resulted in the disproportionate incarceration of poor drug users in rural Puerto Rico, and mainly for nonviolent drug-related crimes. In addition, incarceration exposes PWID to a form of a cruel and unusual punishment: having to quit heroin "cold turkey" while the prison environment also represents a HIV/HCV risk. In turn, the war on drugs not only diverts resources from treatment but also shapes treatment ideologies, punishing non-compliant patients.
conclusionShifting the emphasis from repression to treatment and rehabilitation is likely to have a positive impact on the health and overall quality of life of PWID and their communities.
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