ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2023
Drug checking in the fentanyl era: Utilization and interest among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interpol review of forensic drug chemistry, 2022-2025.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2026Review
- Estimating the Daily Milligrams of Morphine Equivalent of Illicit Fentanyl Use in Los Angeles: Clinical and Epidemiological Implications.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- The changing contribution of fentanyl use to non-fatal overdose among a cohort of people who inject drugs in San Diego, California: A longitudinal assessment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Drug Checking Services in Latin America vs. the United States: Staff Perspectives, Program Characteristics, and Barriers to Implementation.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- What does 'polysubstance' really mean? Comparing drug-involved deaths in CDC records vs. detailed medical examiner data from Los Angeles.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Article
- "Stigma's Every Day, All Day Long": A Qualitative Exploration of Experiences of Overlapping Stigmas and HIV Prevention Service Use Among Women Who Use Drugs.Stigma and health · 2026Article
- High variation in purity of consumer-level illicit fentanyl samples in Los Angeles, September 2023-April 2025.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Motivational interviewing to increase drug checking and reduce overdose rates among people who use drugs: protocol for a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation trial of an adjunctive intervention.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Heroin, Fentanyl, Intentional Fentanyl Use and HIV Transmission in a Community-Recruited Sample of Persons Who Inject Drugs, New York City: 2021-2023.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- Prospective cohort study of fentanyl test strip use and distribution in three states: the stay safe study protocol and implementation recommendations for researchers.Harm reduction journal · 2025Observational
- What Does 'Polysubstance' Really Mean? Comparing Drug-Involved Deaths in Los Angeles in CDC Records vs. Detailed Medical Examiner Data.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Understanding Drug and Alcohol Staff Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators to Drug Checking: A Qualitative Study.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Mini-review: Harm reduction strategies among people who intentionally use fentanyl.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- The public health risks of counterfeit pills.The Lancet. Public health · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review of the Utilization of Opioid Use Treatment, Harm Reduction, and Culturally Tailored Interventions Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the United States.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2025Article
- Safe Injection Self-Efficacy is Associated with HCV and HIV Seropositivity Among People Who Inject Drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- Illicit Fentanyl Use and Hepatitis C Virus Seroconversion Among People Who Inject Drugs in Tijuana and San Diego: Results From a Binational Cohort Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024Article
- Fentanyl harm reduction strategies among Latinx communities in the United States: a scoping review.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Changes in injecting versus smoking heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California, 2020-2023.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Xylazine awareness, desire, use and exposure: Preliminary findings from the Rhode Island community-based drug checking cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn North America, overdose rates have steeply risen over the past five years, largely due to the ubiquity of illicitly manufactured fentanyls in the drug supply. Drug checking services (DCS) represent a promising harm reduction strategy and characterizing experiences of use and interest among people who inject drugs (PWID) is a priority.
methodsBetween February-October 2022, PWID participating in a cohort study in San Diego, CA and Tijuana, Mexico completed structured surveys including questions about DCS, socio-demographics and substance use behaviors. We used Poisson regression to assess factors associated with lifetime DCS use and characterized experiences with DCS and interest in free access to DCS.
resultsOf 426 PWID, 72% were male, 59% Latinx, 79% were experiencing homelessness and 56% ever experienced a nonfatal overdose. One third had heard of DCS, of whom 57% had ever used them. Among the latter, most (98%) reported using fentanyl test strips (FTS) the last time they used DCS; 66% did so less than once per month. In the last six months, respondents used FTS to check methamphetamine (48%), heroin (30%) or fentanyl (29%). Relative to White/non-Latinx PWID, those who were non-White/Latinx were significantly less likely to have used DCS [adjusted risk ratio (aRR): 0.22; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.47), as were PWID experiencing homelessness (aRR:0.45; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.72). However, a significant interaction indicated that non-White/Latinx syringe service program (SSP) clients were more likely to have used DCS than non-SSP clients (aRR: 2.79; CI: 1.09, 7.2). Among all PWID, 44% expressed interest in free access to FTS, while 84% (of 196 PWID) expressed interest in advanced spectrometry DCS to identify and quantify multiple substances.
conclusionsOur findings highlight low rates of DCS awareness and utilization, inequities by race/ethnicity and housing situation, high interest in advanced spectrometry DCS versus FTS, and the potential role of SSPs in improving access to DCS, especially among racial/ethnic minorities.
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