title: Increasing availability of illicit drugs among people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, the Thai government has strengthened drug law enforcement as a strategy to address a continuing epidemic of illicit drug use. We sought to assess temporal trends in street-level availability of illicit drugs among injection drug users (IDUs) in Bangkok, Thailand.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using univariate statistics and multivariate logistic regression, we assessed changes in the availability of five substances (heroin, methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, midazolam, and illicit methadone) between 2009 and 2011 and examined social, structural and individual factors influencing availability among community-recruited samples of IDUs in Bangkok. Availability was measured in three levels: immediate (available in ≤10 min); moderate (available in 10-90 min); and delayed (available in >90 min; our reference category).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analyses included 718 IDUs, including 165 (23.0%) women. Controlling for changes in participant characteristics between assessments, and in a period of constant nominal illicit drug prices, moderate availability of all substances increased significantly between 2009 and 2011, with adjusted odds ratios ranging between 2.36 (illicit methadone) and 4.61 (crystal methamphetamine) (all p<0.01). Immediate availability of all substances but heroin also increased (all p<0.01). More immediate availability of methamphetamine was also associated with a history of incarceration (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the Thai government's intensified drug suppression efforts, the availability of illicit drugs among IDUs in Bangkok increased significantly between 2009 and 2011. The findings raise concern about the overreliance on drug law enforcement-based approaches and point to the need for greater investment in evidence-based drug policies.
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
authors.forename: Kanna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Bohdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nosyk
authors.forename: Lianping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ti
authors.forename: Paisan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suwannawong
authors.forename: Karyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011330:Prisons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: Availability; Crystal methamphetamine; Illicit drugs; Injection drug use; Prison; Thailand