Table 4 Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug use behaviours and experiences of violence among people who use drugs across three Canadian cities, May 2020–March 2021 (N = 1,025)
Vancouver (N = 640) | Toronto (N = 158) | Montreal (N = 227) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Impact on drug use patterns and behaviours | |||
Overall use of non-injection drugs1, n (%) Yes, has increased Yes, has decreased No, has not changed | 111 (22) 87 (17) 318 (62) | 27 (17) 25 (16) 103 (65) | 81 (36) 52 (23) 94 (41) |
Overall use of injection drugs2, n (%) Yes, has increased Yes, has decreased No, has not changed | 81 (20) 97 (23) 233 (57) | 41 (26) 47 (30) 67 (42) | 36 (16) 32 (14) 158 (70) |
Frequency of injecting drugs alone3, n (%) Yes, frequency has increased Yes, frequency has decreased No, frequency has not changed | 35 (10) 16 (4) 308 (85) | 42 (27) 28 (18) 83 (53) | 12 (5) 15 (7) 67 (87) |
Frequency of injecting drugs in public4, n (%) Yes, frequency has increased Yes, frequency has decreased No, frequency has not changed | 19 (5) 20 (6) 317 (88) | 29 (18) 45 (28) 79 (50) | 14 (6) 13 (6) 65 (86) |
Impact on experiences of violence | |||
Witnessed violence against other people5, n (%) More than usual About the same as usual Less than usual Don’t know/refused | NA NA NA NA | 59 (37) 73 (46) 20 (13) 5 (3) | 93 (41) 94 (41) 19 (8) 21 (9) |
Experienced physical violence5, n (%) More than usual About the same as usual Less than usual Don’t know/refused | 55 (9) 550 (87) 18 (3) 6 (1) | 43 (27) 79 (50) 33 (21) 2 (1) | 66 (29) 122 (54) 14 (6) 25 (11) |
Experienced sexual assault6, n (%) More than usual About the same as usual Less than usual Don’t know/ refused | 10 (2) 611 (97) 3 (1) 5 (1) | 10 (6) 113 (72) 30 (19) 3 (2) | 12 (5) 133 (59) 6 (3) 76 (33) |
Felt threatened or unsafe5, n (%) More than usual About the same as usual Less than usual Don’t know/refused | NA NA NA NA | 51 (32) 83 (53) 21 (13) 2 (1) | 65 (29) 134 (59) 10 (4) 17 (7) |
Experienced police violence5,7, n (%) More than usual About the same as usual Less than usual Don’t know/refused | 11 (38) 13 (45) 5 (17) 0 | 34 (22) 68 (43) 53 (34) 2 (1) | 48 (21) 137 (60) 14 (6) 27 (12) |