People Who Use Drugs’ accounts of fentanyl-involved “hot shot” murders

• In Event: Narratives, Myths, and Conceptual Explorations of Crime Perception

Abstract

People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) must navigate daily threats to their safety. While studies have documented many of these threats, such as violence, hate crime, and theft, one common concern— “hot shotting”—has received no empirical attention. “Hot shotting” refers to the deliberate injection of lethal drug concoctions (usually high-dose opioids) with the intent to kill. These deaths are frequently determined as accidental overdoses. As a consequence of these determinations, alongside the challenges of proving these homicides, criminal investigations into these deaths appear limited. Drawing upon interviews with 317 participants, all of whom were experiencing homelessness and/or using drugs at the time of the study, we illuminate their accounts of hotshot incidents, demonstrating hot shot techniques, motivations, and consequences. Our findings show that these deaths have multiple consequences for marginalized people's sense of well-being and safety, demonstrate the need for increasing harm reduction services, and necessitate greater police attention, coroner investigation, and legal prosecution. Specifically, the failure to investigate and prosecute such deaths through formal means perpetuates violence and further marginalizes PWUD.

Authors

• Katharina Maier, University of Winnipeg

• Marta-Marika Urbanik, University of Alberta

• Carolyn Greene, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Matthew Valasik, The University of Alabama