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. 2023 Nov:121:104212.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104212. Epub 2023 Oct 3.

Negative changes in illicit drug supply during COVID-19: Associations with use of overdose prevention and health services among women sex workers who use drugs (2020-2021)

Sarah Moreheart  1 , Kate Shannon  2 , Andrea Krüsi  2 , Jennifer McDermid  2 , Emma Ettinger  3 , Melissa Braschel  2 , Shira Miriam Goldenberg  4
Affiliations

Negative changes in illicit drug supply during COVID-19: Associations with use of overdose prevention and health services among women sex workers who use drugs (2020-2021)

Sarah Moreheart et al. Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Women sex workers are a highly criminalized population who are over-represented amongst people who use drugs (PWUD) and face gaps in overdose prevention and harm reduction services. British Columbia, Canada continues to face a pronounced drug poisoning crisis of the illicit drug supply, which has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective was to examine the prevalence and structural correlates of experiencing negative changes in illicit drug supply (e.g., availability, quality, cost, or access to drugs) amongst women sex workers who use drugs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire data were drawn from a prospective, community-based cohort of women sex workers in Vancouver (AESHA) from April 2020 to 2021. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate structural correlates of negative changes in drug supply during COVID-19 among sex workers who use drugs.

Results: Among 179 sex workers who use drugs, 68.2% reported experiencing negative changes to drug supply during COVID-19, 54.2% recently accessed overdose prevention sites, and 44.7% reported experiencing recent healthcare barriers. In multivariable analysis adjusted for injection drug use, women who reported negative changes in illicit drug supply had higher odds of experiencing recent healthcare barriers (AOR 2.28, 95%CI 1.12-4.62); those recently accessing overdose prevention sites (AOR 1.75, 95%CI 0.86-3.54) faced marginally higher odds also.

Conclusions: Over two-thirds of participants experienced negative changes to illicit drug supply during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The association between experiencing negative changes in the illicit drug supply and accessing overdose prevention services highlights the agency of women in taking measures to address overdose-related risks. Highly criminalized women who experience structural barriers to direct services are also vulnerable to fluctuations in the illicit drug supply. Attenuating health consequences requires interventions tailored to sex workers' needs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Drug policy; Health outcomes; Overdose prevention; Sex work; Toxic drug supply.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Drug use characteristics stratified by experiencing negative changes to illicit drug supply during COVID-19 among women sex workers who use drugs (n = 179) (April 2020–2021), Vancouver, BC
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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