Faculty Bibliography

AIMS/OBJECTIVE:A prior study concluded that drug treatment coverage, defined as the percentage of injection drug users in drug treatment, varied from 1 percent to 39 percent (median 9 percent) in 96 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States. Here, we determine which metropolitan area characteristics are associated with drug treatment coverage. METHODS:We conducted secondary analysis of official data, including the number of injection drug users in treatment and other variables, for 94 large US MSAs. We estimated the number of injection drug users in these metropolitan areas using previously described methods. We used lagged cross-sectional analyses where the independent variables, chosen on the basis of a Theory of Community Action, preceded the dependent variable (drug treatment coverage) in time. Predictors were determined using ordinary least squares multiple regression and confirmed with robust regression. RESULTS:Independent predictors of higher drug treatment coverage for injectors were: presence of organisations that support treatment (unstandardized beta=1.64; 95 percent CI .59 to 2.69); education expenditures per capita in the MSA (unstandardized beta=.12; 95 percent CI -.34 to 2.69); lower percentage of drug users in treatment who are non-injection drug users (unstandardized beta=-0.18; 95 percent CI -0.24 to -0.12); higher percentage of the population who are non-Hispanic White (unstandardized beta=.14; 95 percent CI .08 to .20); lower per capita long-term debt of governments in the metropolitan area (unstandardized beta=-0.93; 95 percent CI -1.51 to -0.35). CONCLUSIONS:In conditions of scarce treatment coverage for drug injectors, an indicator of epidemiologic need (the per capita extent of AIDS among injection drug users) does not predict treatment coverage, and competition for treatment slots by non-injectors may reduce injectors' access to treatment. Metropolitan finances limit treatment coverage. Political variables (racial structures, the presence of organisations that support drug treatment, and budget priorities) may be important determinants of treatment coverage for injectors. Although confidence in these results would be higher if we had used a longitudinal design, these results suggest that further research and action that address structural, political, and other barriers to treatment expansion are sorely needed.

Infective endocarditis is a potentially fatal consequence of illicit injection drug use. We estimate that the number of hospitalization for injection drug use-related infective endocarditis increased by 38%-66% in the United States between 2000-2001 and 2002-2003, a period during which the number of at-risk persons (i.e., injection drug users) remained stable. Increasing methamphetamine use and/or drug injection frequency may have increased the incidence of infective endocarditis among active injection drug users.

Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) aim to reduce the harm associated with injection drug use (IDU). Although they have been accepted as critical components of HIV prevention in many parts of the world, they are often unwelcome and difficult to set up and maintain, even in communities hardest hit by IDU-related HIV transmission. This research examines socio-cultural and political processes that shape community and institutional resistance toward establishing and maintaining SEPs. These processes are configured and reinforced through the socio-spatial stigmatizing of IDUs, and legal and public policy against SEPs. Overarching themes the paper considers are: (1) institutional and/or political opposition based on (a) political and law enforcement issues associated with state drug paraphernalia laws and local syringe laws; (b) harassment of drug users and resistance to services for drug users by local politicians and police; and (c) state and local government (in)action or opposition; and (2) the stigmatization of drug users and location of SEPs in local neighborhoods and business districts. Rather than be explained by "not in my back yard" localism, this pattern seems best conceptualized as an "inequitable exclusion alliance" (IEA) that institutionalizes national and local stigmatizing of drug users and other vulnerable populations.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence among noninjecting heroin and cocaine users in New York City. METHODS: Four hundred sixty-two noninjecting cocaine and heroin users were recruited from a drug detoxification program in New York City. Smoking crack cocaine, intranasal use of heroin, and intranasal use of cocaine were the most common types of drug use. A structured interview was administered and a serum sample was collected for HIV and HSV testing. RESULTS: HIV prevalence was 19% (95% CI 15%-22%) and HSV-2 seroprevalence was 60% (95% CI 55%-64%). The adjusted risk ratio for the association between HSV-2 and HIV was 1.9 (95% CI 1.21%-2.98%). The relationship between HSV-2 and HIV was particularly strong among females, among whom 86% were HSV-2 seropositive, 23% were HIV seropositive, and all HIV seropositives were also HSV-2 seropositive. CONCLUSIONS: HSV-2 appears to be an important factor in sexual transmission of HIV among noninjecting cocaine and heroin users in New York City, especially among females. The estimated population attributable risk for HIV infection attributable to HSV-2 infection in this sample was 38%. Programs to manage HSV-2 infection should be developed as part of comprehensive HIV prevention for noninjecting drug users.

Significant advances have been made in preventing HIV infection among injectors but we still know little about preventing hepatitis C (HCV). Both prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C can remain high among IDUs even in the context of widespread implementation of harm reduction programmes. We need to develop new ways to fill the knowledge gap regarding HCV prevention. One way is to learn from the experts--those IDUs who, after long-term injection in social milieus of high hepatitis C prevalence, nonetheless remain uninfected. We describe a recently commenced program of research that focuses on understanding the strategies, behaviours, and environmental factors associated with "staying safe". This represents a 180-degree turn in IDU research where the focus has traditionally been on risk. Since social, cultural and environmental factors, as well as the vagaries of human strategic discovery by drug users can vary among localities, researchers in four different contexts--New York City, Valencia, Sydney and London--are collaborating in parallel Staying Safe studies. These studies aim to provide the conceptual basis for developing a new generation of HCV prevention programs to assist both new and experienced IDUs to remain uninfected over the long run.