Disentangling the Distance Traveled to Accidental Overdose Death

• In Event: Substance Use, Death, and COVID

Abstract

With the rise of synthetic opioids, accidental overdose deaths are an ever-increasing problem in many urban cities across the United States. Despite their seeming ubiquity, research shows that overdose deaths are concentrated in certain communities, and further, that there are differences across individuals in how far they travel to purchase, use and overdose on illicit drugs. The distance users travel from their residence to the site of their overdose is important for understanding the routine activities of drug users, and for policy-development in disrupting the concentration of overdose deaths and victims within certain communities. Considering the relevance of drug markets in how far users travel to overdose is also important in understanding the spatial distribution of overdose victims. Drawing from literature on environmental criminology and drug markets, this paper addresses these important questions by using hierarchical linear models (HLM) to test the relevant individual, event-level, and contextual characteristics that predict the geographic distance that drug users traveled to an accidental overdose in Philadelphia, PA. Findings from this study have implications for how to best target public health interventions to reduce overdose death disparities across individuals and communities.

Authors

• Nicole Johnson, Temple University

• Caterina Roman, Temple University

• Courtney Harding, PA Office of Attorney General