title: Experiences with urine drug testing by police among people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thailand has relied on drug law enforcement in an effort to curb illicit drug use. While anecdotal reports suggest that Thai police frequently use urine toxicology to identify drug users, little is known about the prevalence or impacts of this practice among people who inject drugs (IDU). Therefore, we sought to examine experiences with urine drug testing by police among IDU in Bangkok.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were derived from a community-recruited sample of IDU in Bangkok participating in the Mitsampan Community Research Project between July and October 2011. We assessed the prevalence and correlates of being subjected to urine toxicology testing by police using multivariate Poisson regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 438 IDU participated in this study, with 293 (66.9%) participants reporting having been tested for illicit drugs by police. In multivariate analyses, reports of drug testing by police were independently and positively associated with younger age (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR]: 1.28), a history of methamphetamine injection (APR: 1.22), a history of incarceration (APR: 1.21), having been in compulsory drug detention (APR: 1.43), avoiding healthcare (APR: 1.15), and HIV seropositivity (APR: 1.19), and negatively associated with access to voluntary drug treatment (APR: 0.82) (all p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high proportion of IDU in Bangkok were subjected to drug testing by police. Young people and methamphetamine injectors were more likely to have been tested. The findings indicate that drug testing by police is associated with the compulsory drug detention system and may be interfering with IDU's access to healthcare and voluntary drug treatment. These findings raise concern about the widespread practice of drug testing by police and its associated impacts.
authors: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, University of British Columbia, Green Commons, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. Electronic address: khayashi@cfenet.ubc.ca.
authors: Kanna
authors: K
authors: Hayashi
authors: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; School of Population & Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Lianping
authors: L
authors: Ti
authors: School of Population & Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Jane A
authors: JA
authors: Buxton
authors: Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group, 18/89 Vipawadee Rd., soi 40 Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
authors: Karyn
authors: K
authors: Kaplan
authors: Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group, 18/89 Vipawadee Rd., soi 40 Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
authors: Paisan
authors: P
authors: Suwannawong
authors: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Evan
authors: E
authors: Wood
authors: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Kerr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000652:urine*; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Compulsory drug detention; Drug law enforcement; Drug testing; Harm reduction; Injection drug use; Thailand