This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre-disaster and within-disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston were collected 8-14 months after the disaster. Multivariate analysis revealed that rises in AT use were positively associated with education. Females and younger evacuees were more likely to have increased AT use. ID use increase was positively associated with resource loss and leaving the city before Katrina. Decreases in AT and ID use were found to be associated with disaster-related exposure. The paper discusses the specific consequences of disasters on disadvantaged minority substance users and the importance of developing public health disaster policies that target this population.

The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina have contributed to a dynamic demographic shift in the Latino composition of New Orleans. This article focuses on a particularly deleterious pattern of crack cocaine smoking associated with numerous social and health consequences. Utilizing a rapid assessment methodology, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 52 Latino immigrant day laborers in New Orleans. Findings reveal that the presence of a flourishing drug market has facilitated and maintained patterns of crack use including initiation and periods of daily use. Moreover, feelings of isolation and constant exposure to victimization due to day laborers' marginal status are described as contributing to this use. This qualitative analysis reveals how social processes and contextual factors contribute to crack use among Latino day laborers in a post-disaster context. This study has important public health implications in the spread of HIV and other blood borne pathogens.

Female sex workers (FSW) represent a population confronted with an array of intersecting social problems. We explore the case of FSW in Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez to understand the everyday violence associated with sex work within the unique context of Mexico. Life history interviews were conducted with 109 FSW revealing violent acts by clients and other sex industry employees (bar owners, police, other FSW). The risk of violence by different types of persons associated with the sex work industry varied by venue and geographic area. Moreover, the violence was shaped by the social structural constraints of dominant gender ideologies.

This research focuses on young Mexican

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