Table 1.
Characteristics of People Who Use Drugs in Massachusetts by Current Substance Use, 2017–2019.
| Total N = 465 |
Current cocaine use - no opioid use history N = 37 |
Current cocaine use - opioid use history N = 35 |
Current opioid use N = 88 |
Current cocaine and opioid use N = 305 |
Test statistic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | p-Value | |
| Age | n = 464 | n = 36 | n = 35 | n = 88 | n = 305 | |
| 18–40 | 295 (63.6) | 19 (52.8) | 19 (54.3) | 48 (54.5) | 209 (68.5) | 9.4 (df = 3) |
| 41 and older | 169 (36.4) | 17 (47.2) | 16 (45.7) | 40 (45.5) | 96 (31.5) | 0.02 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 176 (37.8) | 8 (21.6) | 14 (40) | 32 (36.4) | 122 (40) | Fisher |
| Male | 285 (61.3) | 29 (78.4) | 21 (60) | 55 (62.5) | 180 (59) | 0.38 |
| Another gender | 4 (0.9) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1.1) | 3 (1) | |
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 277 (59.6) | 17 (45.9) | 20 (57.1) | 61 (69.3) | 179 (58.7) | Fisher |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 35 (7.5) | 7 (18.9) | 1 (2.9) | 3 (3.4) | 24 (7.9) | 0.18 |
| Native American, non-Hispanic | 9 (1.9) | 0 (0) | 1 (2.9) | 2 (2.3) | 6 (2) | |
| Another race/ethnicity, non-Hispanic | 3 (0.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (1) | |
| Hispanic | 124 (26.7) | 12 (32.4) | 12 (34.3) | 21 (23.9) | 79 (25.9) | |
| More than one race, non-Hispanic | 17 (3.7) | 1 (2.7) | 1 (2.9) | 1 (1.1) | 14 (4.6) | |
| Educational attainment | n = 464 | n = 37 | n = 34 | n = 88 | n = 305 | |
| Some high school/GED or less | 133 (28.7) | 13 (48.1) | 6 (17.6) | 22 (25) | 92 (30.2) | 3.9 (df = 6) |
| High school graduate or GED | 209 (45) | 16 (59.3) | 18 (52.9) | 41 (46.6) | 134 (43.9) | 0.70 |
| Some college or more | 122 (26.3) | 8 (29.6) | 10 (29.4) | 25 (28.4) | 79 (25.9) | |
| Employment for wages | n = 464 | n = 36 | n = 35 | n = 88 | n = 305 | |
| No | 279 (60.1) | 24 (66.7) | 27 (77.1) | 46 (52.3) | 182 (59.7) | 7.16 (df = 3) |
| Yes | 185 (39.9) | 12 (33.3) | 8 (22.9) | 42 (47.7) | 123 (40.3) | 0.07 |
| Housed | ||||||
| House or apartment | 190 (40.9) | 15 (40.5) | 17 (48.6) | 43 (48.9) | 115 (37.7) | Fisher |
| Halfway house/sober home | 25 (5.4) | 1 (2.7) | 1 (2.9) | 12 (13.6) | 11 (3.6) | <.0001 |
| Shelter or rooming house | 92 (19.8) | 9 (24.3) | 8 (22.9) | 18 (20.5) | 57 (18.7) | |
| On the street | 151 (32.5) | 9 (24.3) | 9 (25.7) | 15 (17.0) | 118 (38.7) | |
| Other | 7 (1.5) | 3 (8.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (1.3) | |
| Intentional substance use - past 30 days | ||||||
| Powdered cocaine | 305 (65.6) | 21 (56.8) | 28 (80) | 0 (0) | 256 (83.9) | <.0001 |
| Crack cocaine | 280 (60.2) | 25 (67.6) | 25 (71.4) | 0 (0) | 226 (74.1) | <.0001 |
| Heroin | 320 (68.8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 63 (71.6) | 257 (84.3) | <.0001 |
| Fentanyl | 296 (63.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 61 (69.3) | 235 (77.0) | <.0001 |
| Opioid pain medication* | 155 (33.3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 30 (34.1) | 125 (41.0) | <.0001 |
| Methamphetamine (n = 367)** | 42 (9) | 2 (5.4) | 3 (8.6) | 1 (1.1) | 36 (11.8) | <.0001 |
| Benzodiazepines*** | 125 (27.1) | 2 (5.4) | 10 (28.6) | 26 (29.6) | 88 (28.9) | 0.009 |
| Marijuana**** | 200 (43.0) | 23 (62.2) | 14 (40.0) | 29 (33.0) | 134 (43.9) | 9.40 (df = 3) 0.02 |
Note. Test-statistic is based on a chi-square test. Fisher’s exact tests were used when cell count was <5; only p-values are reported for Fisher’s Exact. DF: degrees of freedom. Bolded p-value = significant at p < 0.05.
*
Opioid pain medication includes both prescribed and non-prescribed medication. Notably, 80% of those who used opioid pain medication had a current (80%) or past (20%) history of illicit fentanyl or heroin use.
**
Methamphetamine use was not assessed in 2 sites; thus 97 people were not included; 1 additional person had missing data.
***
Includes prescribed and unprescribed use of benzodiazepines.
****
Includes medical and recreational marijuana use.