Prescription opioid use, misuse, and diversion among street drug users in New York City

Opioid therapy and prescription drug diversion.

A qualitative exploration of prescription opioid injection among street-based drug users in Toronto: behaviours, preferences and drug availability

BACKGROUND There is evidence of a high prevalence of prescription opioid (PO) and crack use among street drug users in Toronto. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe drug use behaviours and preferences as well as the social and environmental context surrounding the use of these drugs among young and old street-based drug injection drug users (IDUs). METHODS In-depth interviews...

Mechanisms of prescription drug diversion among drug-involved club- and street-based populations.

OBJECTIVE Prescription drug diversion involves the unlawful channeling of regulated pharmaceuticals from legal sources to the illicit marketplace, and can occur along all points in the drug delivery process, from the original manufacturing site to the wholesale distributor, the physician's office, the retail pharmacy, or the patient. However, empirical data on diversion are limited. METHOD In...

Prescription drug use among pregnant women in opioid Maintenance Treatment.

AIMS This study describes the use of prescribed drugs among women in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) prior to, and during, pregnancy. DESIGN This cohort study was based on data from two nationwide databases: the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Prescription Database. SETTING Norway, 2004-2010. PARTICIPANTS OMT drugs were dispensed to 138 women with 159 pregnancies. ...

Ecstasy use among Hispanic and black substance users in New York City.

Surveillance data suggests that use of ecstasy in the U.S. is predominantly among white adolescent and young adults. To investigate ecstasy use among substance users in New York City we added questions to ongoing efforts to recruit heroin and cocaine users. Of 715 participants recruited, 58.3% were injection drug users (IDUs). The median age was 32 (range 17-64), 76.4% were male, 49.0% were cur...