Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2020 Sep;81(5):556-560.
People who use drugs (PWUD) face concurrent public health emergencies from overdoses, HIV, hepatitis C, and COVID-19, leading to an unprecedented syndemic. Responses to PWUD that go beyond treatment--such as decriminalization and providing a safe supply of pharmaceutical-grade drugs--could reduce impacts of this syndemic. Solutions already implemented for COVID-19, such as emergency safe-supply prescribing and providing housing to people experiencing homelessness, must be sustained once COVID-19 is contained. This pandemic is not only a public health crisis but also a chance to develop and maintain equitable and sustainable solutions to the harms associated with the criminalization of drug use.
吸毒者（PWUD）面临着过量用药、艾滋病毒、丙型肝炎和 COVID-19 等公共卫生紧急情况的并发，导致了前所未有的综合征。超越治疗的针对 PWUD 的应对措施——例如非刑事化和提供医药级毒品的安全供应——可以减轻这种综合征的影响。针对 COVID-19 已经实施的解决方案，如紧急安全供应处方和为无家可归者提供住房，一旦 COVID-19 得到控制，就必须持续下去。这场大流行不仅是一场公共卫生危机，也是一个机会，可以制定和维持与毒品使用刑事定罪相关的危害的公平和可持续的解决方案。
