Research Interests:
... Julio Montaner, MD, Ph.D., FRCPC, is a UBC Professor of Medicine and the Chair of AIDS research at the University of British Columbia, and Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS. ... 11. Ward C, Byrd W.... more
... Julio Montaner, MD, Ph.D., FRCPC, is a UBC Professor of Medicine and the Chair of AIDS research at the University of British Columbia, and Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS. ... 11. Ward C, Byrd W. Afghanistan's Opium Economy. ...
Research Interests:
BackgroundCanadian injection drug users (IDUs) are at high risk of hepatitis C virus infection (HCV). However, little is known about the costs associated with their HCV-related medical treatment. We estimated the medical costs of treating... more
BackgroundCanadian injection drug users (IDUs) are at high risk of hepatitis C virus infection (HCV). However, little is known about the costs associated with their HCV-related medical treatment. We estimated the medical costs of treating HCV-infected IDUs from 2006 to 2026.
Research Interests:
Background Recent policy announcements in Canada and the United States may potentially affect the risk environment for HIV transmission among incarcerated injection drug users (IDU). We sought to evaluate the potential impact of... more
Background Recent policy announcements in Canada and the United States may potentially affect the risk environment for HIV transmission among incarcerated injection drug users (IDU). We sought to evaluate the potential impact of incarceration on HIV risk behaviour ...
Research Interests: Risk Taking, Public Health, Drug Policy, Prospective studies, Humans, and 16 morePublic, United States, Female, Male, Sexual Behavior, Cohort Study, Heroin Dependence, British Columbia, Condom use, Prisoners, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Analysis of Variance, Condoms, Needle Sharing, and Generalized estimating equation
Research Interests: Psychology, Multivariate Analysis, Humans, Longitudinal Analysis, Female, and 15 moreMale, Follow-up studies, Heroin Dependence, Incidence, Prevalence, Prisoners, Methadone, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Narcotics, Age Factors, Long Term Effect, Methadone Maintenance Treatment, Generalized estimating equation, and Drug treatment
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Street-involved youth have been shown to be involved in the street-level illicit drug trade in a number of jurisdictions, though little is known about risk factors and sequelae of this behavior. The present study was therefore conducted... more
Street-involved youth have been shown to be involved in the street-level illicit drug trade in a number of jurisdictions, though little is known about risk factors and sequelae of this behavior. The present study was therefore conducted to investigate factors associated with the street-level drug trade involvement among street-based youth. We used logistic regression to examine factors associated with drug dealing among participants in the At-Risk Youth Study in Vancouver, Canada. We also examined motivations for drug trade involvement and types of drugs sold by participants. Overall, 529 street-involved youth were followed during the study period, of whom 307 (58.0%) reported having been involved in the drug trade in the last six months. In a logistic regression analysis, crack cocaine use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.28-2.67), homelessness (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04-2.40), and self-reported police assault [corrected] (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.14-3.00) were independently associated with drug dealing among cohort participants. Among participants who reported drug dealing, 263 (85.6%) individuals stated that the main reason that they sold drugs was to pay for their personal drug use. In our setting, street-involved youth implicated in the drug trade are characterized by drug-related and sociodemographic vulnerabilities. These individuals also appear to be motivated by drug dependence and report elevated levels of physical confrontation with police [corrected]. Our findings have immediate implications for drug strategies targeting street-level drug dealing.