ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2022
Factors associated with perceived decline in the quality of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from community-recruited cohorts of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2022. 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.
- Prescribed pharmaceutical alternatives initiative coinciding with reductions in unregulated street opioid use among young people who use drugs: An interrupted time series analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Self-reported cannabis use to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms and reductions in opioid use among people who use unregulated opioids: a cross-sectional analysis.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Willingness to use microbicides among females who use unregulated drugs in Vancouver, Canada.AIDS care · 2026Article
- Unintentional benzodiazepine use and frequency of drug checking service utilization: a cross-sectional study.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Policing and access to harm reduction services among young people who use drugs and young Indigenous people who use drugs before and after the pilot implementation of decriminalization of personal possession.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability and retail price of unregulated drugs in Vancouver, Canada: An interrupted time-series analysis, 2018-2022.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Associations with experience of non-fatal opioid overdose in British Columbia, Canada: a repeated cross sectional survey study.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Decriminalization thresholds for drug possession: A multi-criteria policy analysis framework.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Interest in using buprenorphine-naloxone among a prospective cohort of street-involved young people in Vancouver, Canada.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- Disruption to Australian heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy markets with the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Opioid use in the era of COVID-19: a multifaceted study of the opioid epidemic in Canada.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Difficulty accessing supervised consumption services during the COVID-19 pandemic among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesDriven by an increasingly toxic drug supply, drug toxicity deaths in the United States and Canada have risen to unprecedented levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to characterize the prevalence of and the factors associated with a perceived decline in the quality of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic among community-recruited cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada.
methodsData collection took place between July and November 2020. In adherence with COVID-19 safety protocols, questionnaires were administered by interviewers through remote means (e.g., phone or videoconference). Using multivariable logistic regression, we characterized the prevalence of and factors associated with a perceived decline in drug quality during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vancouver, Canada.
resultsOf the 738 individuals included in this analysis, 272 (36.9%) reported that the quality of drugs declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. In multivariable analysis, perceived decline in the quality of drugs was significantly associated with: recent non-fatal overdose (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.01, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.29-3.15), at least weekly injection drug use (AOR=1.94, 95% CI: 1.40-2.71), at least weekly crack use (AOR=1.61, 95%CI: 1.10-2.36), and at least weekly crystal methamphetamine use (AOR=1.46, 95%CI: 1.03-2.08). DISCUSSION: Over a third of PWUD perceived that the quality of drugs declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and these individuals were significantly more likely to report experiencing a recent non-fatal overdose, engaging in frequent injection drug and stimulant use. Study findings indicate the need for interventions to address the toxic drug supply, including providing a regulated supply.
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