title: Drug-related risks among street youth in two neighborhoods in a Canadian setting.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 608-1081 Burrard Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Werb
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Danya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fast
authors.forename: Jiezhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Julio S G
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D000328:Adult; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D001955:British Columbia; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008694:Methamphetamine