PI: Jurgen Rehm, Institute of Mental Health Policy Research, CAMH, ON
Working Group: Dr. Elaine Hyshka (University of Alberta), Dr. Geoff Bardwell (University of Waterloo), Ms. Cayley Russell (OCRINT), Dr. Farihah Ali (OCRINT); Ms. Jade Boyd (University of British Columbia), Ms. Kali Sedgemore (BC Centers for Substance Use; Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War), Mr. Matt Bonn (Canadian AIDS society)
To gain an in-depth understanding of the impacts of the decriminalization policy on people who use drugs (PWUD) in British Columbia, we will undertake a total of four qualitative assessments, spread out over five years. For each assessment, we will seek to recruit a new cohort of participants each time in recognizing the potential for high participant attrition as well as to capture diverse PWUD substance use profiles and patterns. We will ensure that our sample of PWUD are representative of diverse patterns of use, lifestyles, and location. Recruitment will be facilitated through support from OCRINT’s established connections with relevant health organizations and community-based advocacy groups throughout British Columbia and through the circulation of posters and flyers on social media networks and posted at relevant health service organizations.
The interview guides will be developed in collaboration with the working group, including PWUD, to ensure the appropriateness and completeness of questions. The main indicators we examined through the qualitative interviews include:
Awareness of available community harm reduction and treatment services
Accessibility of harm reduction and treatment services
Harm reduction and treatment service engagement and retention
Stigmatization-related barriers to accessing harm reduction and treatment services
Criminalization-related barriers (e.g., fear of criminalization) to accessing harm reduction and treatment services
Interactions between police and PWUD (including experiences with police officers and whether or to what extent they apply harm reduction and anti-stigma approaches)
Experiences with seizures, arrests, charges, and criminal records for personal possession, for trafficking, for drug-adjacent crimes, for other more serious crimes (e.g., up-charging or net widening)
Overall health and social well-being (e.g., employment, housing, quality of life)
Substance use patterns and behaviors (e.g., types of substances used, prices, purity, accessibility, availability, mode of administration/consumption, commonly purchased/carried amounts)
Perceptions of the decriminalization policy and its impacts