Spatial Models of the Growth and Spread of Methamphetamine Abuse in California

Gruenewald, Paul J.; Ponicki, William R.; Remer, Lillian G.; Johnson, Fred W.; Waller, Lance A.; Gorman, Dennis M.; Zhu, Li

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8921-2_9

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In contrast to the shifting landscape of opioid use, methamphetamine has long been entrenched and available in the western US, particularly in rural areas of California’s Central Valley (Gibson, Leamon, & Flynn, 2002; Gruenewald, Ponicki, Remer, Waller, et al, 2013). Methamphetamine use spread from rural northern and southern California into the Central Valley in the 1990s (Gruenewald, Ponicki, Remer, Johnson, et al, 2013), where its production, supply, and use remain a serious public health concern (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Methamphetamine use spread from rural northern and southern California into the Central Valley in the 1990s (Gruenewald, Ponicki, Remer, Johnson, et al, 2013), where its production, supply, and use remain a serious public health concern (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2016). While much of the recent focus on young injectors has centered on opioid use, our data provide a reminder that methamphetamine injection continues to enact health harms in communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Down in the valley: Trajectories of injection initiation among young injectors in California’s Central Valley

Syvertsen

Paquette

Pollini

2017

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Background Injection drug use initiation represents a critical point of public health intervention, as injection increases risk forblood borne infections including Hepatitis C and HIV. In this paper, weexplore pathways to injection initiation among youth (<=30) in the ruralcontext of California’s Central Valley, where rates of injection drug useare among the highest in the nation. Methods We draw on semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 younginjectors to examine drug use histories, including the factors that participants associated with their transition to injection drug use. Results The average age was 24.7 years (range: 20–30), 45% were female(n=9), and 30% were Latino (n=6). Participants described a variety ofpathways to injection, culminating in a first injection that involvedeither opioids (n=12) or methamphetamine (n=8). Among the opioid group, the majority used prescription opioids before transitioning to injection, while a smaller number transitioned to opioid injection from non-opioid recreational drug use. Injectors who first used prescription opioidsoften described growing up in affluent suburban areas and transitioned toinjection with peers, owing to a combination of factors related toindividual tolerance, cost, and shifting drug markets. In contrast, methamphetamine initiates grew up in less affluent families withhistories of substance use that exposed them to drugs at an early age. Methamphetamine users transitioned from smoking and snorting toinjection, often with family members or intimate partners, within broadercontexts of social disadvantage and stress. Conclusions While much of the focus on young injectors has centered onthe current opioid epidemic, our data suggest a need to consider multiple pathways toward injection initiation of different drugs. Targetedinterventions addressing the unique injection transition contexts of bothopioids and methamphetamine are urgently needed in the Central Valley ofCalifornia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Down in the valley: Trajectories of injection initiation among young injectors in California’s Central Valley

Syvertsen

Paquette

Pollini

2017

International Journal of Drug Policy

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“…These connection matrices are also used in the development of more sophisticated spatial statistical models, including spatial regression and Bayesian space-time models. Gruenewald et al (2010) take a slightly different approach by explicitly modeling the spatial structure using Bayesian conditionally autoregressive (CAR) space-time analyses in their study of the spread of methamphetamine problems across California. They found that in California when laws governing the sale of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (a precursor chemical in the making of methamphetamine) were enacted rates of methamphetamine abuse and dependence decreased (Gruenewald et al 2010).…”

Section: Zoning Restrictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gruenewald et al (2010) take a slightly different approach by explicitly modeling the spatial structure using Bayesian conditionally autoregressive (CAR) space-time analyses in their study of the spread of methamphetamine problems across California. They found that in California when laws governing the sale of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (a precursor chemical in the making of methamphetamine) were enacted rates of methamphetamine abuse and dependence decreased (Gruenewald et al 2010). Using CAR procedures, the authors' model how changes occur over time and space in reaction to environmental changes related to reduced availability.…”

Section: Zoning Restrictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, studies would be longitudinal in nature and rely on the collection of readily available archival data, including police incidents of violent and property crimes and hospital discharge data related to cannabis abuse and dependence. As described above, this approach has been used previously to study extreme reduction in alcohol outlet densities due to civil unrest in Los Angeles County (Cohen et al 2006) and policies designed to reduce the physical availability of methamphetamine in California (Gruenewald et al 2010) and provides valuable information on how to study how problems change when environmental approaches to reducing problems are enacted. Both studies also made adjustments to the analytic methods in order to assess and control for the geographic cluster that occurs when examining the effects of environmental interventions across areas.…”

Section: Natural Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating Medical Marijuana Dispensary Policies: Spatial Methods for the Study of Environmentally‐Based Interventions

Freisthler

Kepple

Sims

et al. 2012

American J of Comm Psychol

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In 1996, California was the first state to pass a Compassionate Use Act allowing for the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes. Here we review several current policy and land use environmental interventions designed to limit problems related to the influx of medical marijuana dispensaries across California cities. Then we discuss the special challenges, solutions, and techniques used for studying the effects of these place-based policies. Finally, we present some of the advanced spatial analytic techniques that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental interventions, such as those related to reducing problems associated with the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries. Further, using data from a premise survey of all the dispensaries in Sacramento, this study will examine what characteristics and practices of these dispensaries are related to crime within varying distances from the dispensaries (e.g., 100, 250, 500, and 1000 feet). We find that some security measures, such as security cameras and having a door man outside, implemented by medical marijuana dispensary owners might be effective at reducing crime within the immediate vicinity of the dispensaries.

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