Acceptability of Overdose Prevention Sites in the Business Community in Baltimore, Maryland
-
Published:2022-05-24
Issue:4
Volume:99
Page:723-732
-
ISSN:1099-3460
-
Container-title:Journal of Urban Health
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:J Urban Health
Author:
Sherman Susan G.,Rouhani Saba,White Rebecca Hamilton,Weicker Noelle,Morris Miles,Schneider Kristin,Park Ju Nyeong,Barry Colleen
Abstract
Abstract
Intervetions are urgently needed to reduce the trajectory of the US opioid overdose epidemic, yet implementation is often hampered by resistance or opposition from key community stakeholders. While businesses are economically and physically impacted by the opioid epidemic, they are rarely engaged in efforts to reduce its impact. The establishment of overdose prevention sites (OPS) is being discussed throughout many US jurisdictions with limited attention to the potential positive role of businesses in that process. We surveyed business owners and employees of businesses located in neighborhoods with concentrated drug markets. The study’s primary aim was to examine their attitudes to locally-placed OPS. An iterative, two-phase sampling strategy was used to identify recruitment zones. In person (December 2019–March 2020) and telephone-based (April–July 2020) surveys were administered to distinct business owners and employees (N = 149). Sixty-five percent of participants supported OPS in their neighborhood and 47% had recently witnessed an overdose in or around their workplace. While 70% had heard of naloxone, and 38% reported having it on the premises. Correlates of supporting an OPS locally included living in the same neighborhood as work (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.99, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.30–3.05); having a more positive attitude towards people who use drugs (aOR 1.33, 95% CI: 1.13–1.58); and having recently seen an overdose in/around the workplace (aOR 2.86, 95% CI: 1.11–7.32). Lack of support being an owner (aOR 0.35, 95% CI: 0.15–0.83). These data indicate the extent to which businesses are directly impacted by the opioid epidemic and the power of personal experience in shaping OPS support in advocacy efforts.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health (social science),Urban Studies
Reference39 articles.
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually. Secondary Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/20211117.htm.
2. Genberg BL, Astemborski J, Piggott DA, Woodson-Adu T, Kirk GD, Mehta SH. The health and social consequences during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among current and former people who inject drugs: a rapid phone survey in Baltimore, Maryland. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021;221:108584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108584.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug Overdose Deaths. Secondary Drug Overdose Deaths. 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html. Accessed 19 2020.
4. Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race. 2018. https://drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-massincarceration-and-race-englishspanish. Accessed 8 Feb 2022.
5. Sherman S, Hunter K, Rouhani S. Safe drug consumption spaces: a strategy for Baltimore City; http://www.abell.org/sites/default/files/files/Safe%20Drug%20Consumption%20Spaces%20final.pdf; Accessed October 10, 2017 2017.