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Drugs and homelessness in the pandemic
Filter (US)
Wednesday, May 6, 2020

homelessCOVID-19 and the lockdown have obviously hit many different groups in different ways, but few as severely as street-homeless people who use drugs. There are the obvious health impacts that make them more vulnerable to any disease, the impossibility of self-isolating when you don’t have a home, and the constant need to source the drugs you rely on—or face the nightmare of going into withdrawal in the midst of a pandemic. But in fact, the problems are even more complex. The increase in risky behaviors is an alarming aspect of the coronavirus-drug use nexus. In the case of fentanyl, Europe has thus far been largely spared the nightmarish situation of North America.