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Opioid Use Among Those Who Have Criminal Justice Experience: Harm Reduction Strategies to Lessen HIV Risk

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

We reviewed the HIV and opioid literature relevant to harm reduction strategies for those with criminal justice experience.

Recent Findings

Opioid use in the United States has risen at an alarming rate recently. This has led to increased numbers of people who inject drugs, placing new populations at risk for HIV, including those who have criminal justice experience. In recent years, there has been a gradual decrease in the number of individuals under the supervision of the criminal justice system. However, concurrently, there has been a rise in the number of individuals incarcerated in jails in rural counties that are at the center of the current opioid epidemic.

Summary

We provide a number of harm reduction strategies that could be implemented in correctional settings such as access and linkage to medication-assisted treatment, connection to syringe exchange programs and safe injection facilities (where available), and the repackaging of pre-exposure prophylaxis as a harm reduction tool.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

  2. Center for Health Equity Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

  3. Vera Institute of Justice, New York, NY, USA

    David Cloud

  4. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    David Cloud

  5. College of Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Ernest Drucker

  6. Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Nickolas Zaller

Authors
  1. Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
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  2. David Cloud
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  4. Nickolas Zaller
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Correspondence to Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on The Global Epidemic

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Brinkley-Rubinstein, L., Cloud, D., Drucker, E. et al. Opioid Use Among Those Who Have Criminal Justice Experience: Harm Reduction Strategies to Lessen HIV Risk. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 15, 255–258 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11904-018-0394-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11904-018-0394-z

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