@article{ref1,
title="There goes the neighborhood? The public safety enhancing effects of a mobile harm reduction intervention",
journal="International journal on drug policy",
year="2024",
author="Fixler, Alex L. and Jacobs, Leah A. and Jones, Daniel B. and Arnold, Aaron and Underwood, Emily E.",
volume="124",
number="",
pages="e104329-e104329",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Buprenorphine is a gold-standard treatment for opioid use disorders, but most people with these disorders do not access it. Barriers to treatment access may be diminished by low-threshold mobile treatment programs but concern regarding their impact on local public safety challenges their adoption. <br><br>METHODS: This quasi-experimental study uses difference-in-differences analyses to measure the impact of four mobile buprenorphine clinics in Pittsburgh on neighborhood arrest rates. The study period spans 2018 to 2022, with a pre-intervention period of 11 to 12 quarters and a post-intervention period of 7 to 8 quarters (dependent on neighborhood). A treatment group of 84 census block groups in the areas surrounding clinics during the time period after their establishment were compared to a control group of city census blocks not within one mile of a clinic plus treated block groups in the two years prior to clinic establishment. Outcome variables include drug, non-drug, and total arrests, measured quarterly per 100 in population. <br><br>RESULTS: Compared to block groups further than 1 mile from a clinic, arrests fell by 34.13 % (b = -0.358, 95 % CI = -0.557, -0.158), drug arrests by 33.85 % (b = -0.087, 95 % CI = -0.151, -0.023), and non-drug related arrests by 22.29 % (b = -0.179, 95 % CI = -0.302, -0.057). Drug arrests declined significantly on days when the clinics were not present (b = -0.015, 95 % CI = -0.025, -0.006), with no significant change on clinic operational days (b = -0.002, 95 % CI = -0.016, -0.013). Total arrests declined significantly on days when clinics were and were not present (b = -0.045, 95 % CI = -0.078, -0.012; and b = -0.052, CI = -0.082, -0.023, respectively). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Mobile clinics providing medication for opioid use disorders were associated with reduced neighborhood arrest rates. Expansion of mobile services could promote health equity and public safety.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0955-3959",
doi="10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104329",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104329"
}