Risks surrounding drug trade involvement among street-involved youth.
BACKGROUND
Street-involved youth have been shown to be involved in the street-level illicit drug trade in a number of jurisdictions, though little is known about risk factors and sequelae of this behavior. The present study was therefore conducted to investigate factors associated with the street-level drug trade involvement among street-based youth.


METHODS
We used logistic regression to examine factors associated with drug dealing among participants in the At-Risk Youth Study in Vancouver, Canada. We also examined motivations for drug trade involvement and types of drugs sold by participants.


RESULTS
Overall, 529 street-involved youth were followed during the study period, of whom 307 (58.0%) reported having been involved in the drug trade in the last six months. In a logistic regression analysis, crack cocaine use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.28-2.67), homelessness (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04-2.40), and self-reported police assault [corrected] (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.14-3.00) were independently associated with drug dealing among cohort participants. Among participants who reported drug dealing, 263 (85.6%) individuals stated that the main reason that they sold drugs was to pay for their personal drug use.


CONCLUSIONS
In our setting, street-involved youth implicated in the drug trade are characterized by drug-related and sociodemographic vulnerabilities. These individuals also appear to be motivated by drug dependence and report elevated levels of physical confrontation with police [corrected]. Our findings have immediate implications for drug strategies targeting street-level drug dealing.
Werb
Daniel
D
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Kerr
Thomas
T
Li
Kathy
K
Montaner
Julio
J
Wood
Evan
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001955:British Columbia; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016578:Crack Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D016495:Police; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
D016578:Crack Cocaine; D013287:Illicit Drugs