DRUG-RELATED RISKS AMONG STREET YOUTH IN TWO NEIGHBORHOODS IN A CANADIAN SETTING

摘要

We compared drug-related behaviors, including initiation of drug use, among street youth residing in two adjacent neighborhoods in Vancouver. One neighborhood, the Downtown Eastside (DTES), features a large open-air illicit drug market.In multivariate analysis, having a primary illicit income source (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 2.64, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.16 – 6.02) and recent injection heroin use (AOR = 4.25, 95% CI: 1.26 – 14.29) were positively associated with DTES residence, while recent non-injection crystal methamphetamine use (AOR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16 – 0.94) was negatively associated with DTES residence. In univariate analysis, dealing drugs (Odds Ratio [OR] = 5.43, 95% CI: 1.24 – 23.82) was positively associated with initiating methamphetamine use in the DTS compared to the DTES.These results demonstrate the importance of considering neighborhood variation when developing interventions aimed at reducing drug related harms among street-involved youth at various levels of street entrenchment.