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
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Abstract
Background
Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on unregulated drug markets in North America have not been well characterized. We sought to estimate potential changes in the availability and retail price of unregulated drugs in Vancouver, Canada pre- vs. post-emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
We used self-report data from two prospective cohorts of people who use drugs in Vancouver. We employed interrupted time series analyses to identify changes in the monthly prevalence of immediate availability (i.e., within 10 minutes vs. any longer) and median retail price of crystal methamphetamine, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and ‘down’ (the local term for unregulated opioids, e.g., heroin, fentanyl, etc), post-pandemic emergence (i.e. post-July 2020).
Results
Between 2018 and 2022 among 739 participants, the monthly prevalence of immediate availability significantly decreased for all drugs immediately post- emergence of the pandemic (all p<0.05). The monthly prevalence of immediate availability of cocaine declined most (-18.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -25.9, -10.4) and the immediate availability of ‘down’ declined least (-13.0%, 95% CI:-18.8, -7.3). In analyses of median price, the only significant change was in the price of cocaine, which increased by $3.46 per 0.5 grams (95% CI:1.0, 5.9) immediately post-emergence of the pandemic.
Conclusion
While more research is needed to investigate reasons for the observed trends, the stagnant price amidst decreased availability for all drugs examined in this study (save cocaine) may reflect decreased purity/increased contamination of unregulated drugs following the beginning of the pandemic in our study setting. These findings may have implications for drug policy and practice approaches, particularly in regions where synthetic psychoactive substances are increasingly dominating the unregulated drug supply.
期刊介绍：
The International Journal of Drug Policy provides a forum for the dissemination of current research, reviews, debate, and critical analysis on drug use and drug policy in a global context. It seeks to publish material on the social, political, legal, and health contexts of psychoactive substance use, both licit and illicit. The journal is particularly concerned to explore the effects of drug policy and practice on drug-using behaviour and its health and social consequences. It is the policy of the journal to represent a wide range of material on drug-related matters from around the world.
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