• Lianping Ti, Lindsey Richardson, Kora DeBeck, Paul Nguyen, Julio Montaner, Evan Wood, and Thomas Kerr.
• British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3.
• Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 Aug 1; 141: 58-64.

BackgroundDespite the growing prevalence of illicit stimulant drug use internationally, and the widespread involvement of people who inject drugs (IDU) within street-based drug markets, little is known about the impact of different types of street-based income generation activities on the cessation of stimulant use among IDU.MethodsData were derived from an open prospective cohort of IDU in Vancouver, Canada. We used Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards regression to examine the effect of different types of street-based income generation activities (e.g., sex work, drug dealing, and scavenging) on time to cessation of stimulant use.ResultsBetween December, 2005 and November, 2012, 887 IDU who use stimulant drugs (cocaine, crack cocaine, or crystal methamphetamine) were prospectively followed-up for a median duration of 47 months. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, compared to those who did not engage in street-based income generation activities, participants who reported sex work, drug dealing, scavenging, or more than one of these activities were significantly less likely to report stimulant drug use cessation (all p<0.001). When considered as time-updated variables and adjusted for potential confounders in a multivariable model, each type of street-based income generation activity remained significantly associated with a slower time to stimulant drug cessation (all p<0.005).ConclusionsOur findings highlight the urgent need for strategies to address stimulant dependence, including novel pharmacotherapies. Also important, structural interventions, such as low-threshold employment opportunities, availability of supportive housing, legal reforms regarding drug use, and evidence-based approaches that reduce harm among IDU are urgently required.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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