Citation

Stein MD, Kenney SR, Anderson BJ, Bailey GL. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018; 187: 205-211.

Affiliation

Stanley Street Treatment and Resources, Inc., Fall River, MA 02720, USA; Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 222 Richmond St., Providence, RI 02912, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.03.015

PMID

29680676

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Despite ample research examining how alcohol use relates to gun involvement, little is known about the relationship between opioids and gun involvement. In the current study, we examined correlates of gun possession, accessibility, and related behaviors in an opioid dependent sample.

METHODS: Between October 2016 and April 2017, we surveyed persons entering a brief, inpatient opioid detoxification (n = 386) and 51 contemporaneous persons seeking alcohol detoxification at the same facility in Massachusetts and recorded their lifetime experiences with gun involvement.

RESULTS: Participants averaged 33 years of age, 74% were male, 83% were White, and 64% had a history of incarceration. Opioid users had significantly higher rates of gun involvement than persons in alcohol detoxification; for example, 31.3% (vs. 3.9%) had carried a gun for protection, 45.1% (vs. 25.5%) had been threatened with a gun, and 13.8% (vs. 2.0%) had shot at another person. Among persons misusing opioids, male and non-White respondents, and those with a history of incarceration or poorer self-control reported greater gun involvement.

CONCLUSIONS: Opioid users, both men and women, lead gun-involved lives.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Guns; Opioid detoxification; Self-control