ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2022
Changes in the unregulated opioid drug supply during income assistance payment weeks in Vancouver, Canada: An exploratory analysis.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Naloxone Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Overdose Response Among Family Members of People who Misuse Opioids.Journal of community health · 2024Article
- Ending the overdose epidemic by ending the war on drug users: Can this work?Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPNArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIncreased drug-related harms, including overdoses (poisonings), have been reported in the days around income assistance payments, yet little is known about changes in the unregulated drug supply during this time. In this exploratory analysis, we investigated whether changes in the unregulated opioid drug supply are associated with income assistance payment weeks.
methodsUsing data from drug checking services in Vancouver, BC, we conducted modified Poisson and linear regression models to examine the association between income assistance payment weeks and three key outcomes: (1) proportion of fentanyl positivity among expected opioid samples, (2) fentanyl concentration among fentanyl-positive expected opioid samples, and (3) proportion of benzodiazepine positivity among expected opioid samples.
resultsBetween October 2017 and December 2019, 4306 (90.41%) of expected opioid samples tested positive for fentanyl, and the median fentanyl concentration was 7.0% (quartile [Q]1 - Q3: 5.1% - 9.8%). Income assistance payment week was associated with an increased prevalence of fentanyl positivity among expected opioid samples (prevalence ratio [PR]: 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.05); however, we failed to find a statistically significant association between income assistance payment week and fentanyl concentration (regression coefficient: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.44, 1.09). Additionally, income assistance payment week was associated with an increased prevalence of benzodiazepine positivity among expected opioid samples (PR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.07, 3.24).
conclusionThese findings suggest that during income assistance payment weeks, there may be more fentanyl and benzodiazepines circulating in the unregulated opioid drug supply. The rise in fentanyl and benzodiazepine-adulterated opioids during income assistance payment weeks may be contributing to the increase in illicit drug overdoses seen during this time of the month.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.