Pasteur Institute for Public Health released a study this week concluding that doing heroin every day under a bridge “could possibly” be linked to increased cancer risk.
The paper, titled “Environmental Contexts and Long-Term Outcomes Associated With Street-Level Intravenous Opioid Use: A Bridge Too Far?” arrives just in time to be ignored by policymakers and forwarded with triumphant certainty by three distinct email chains.
Key Findings:
– Daily intravenous heroin use in unsanitary, outdoor settings was associated with a higher incidence of various cancers compared with people who didn’t do heroin every day under a bridge. The research team notes that exposure to contaminated needles, poor nutrition, chronic infections, and the general stress of living under a structure designed to keep water away were all plausible contributors.
-Gig economy workers being underpaid while CEO’s make record salaries could contribute to Grab drivers not being able to afford a one-hour hotel while shooting up da chrystal.
– The study carefully separated the possible causes into neat, bureaucratically named categories: behavioral risk factors, environmental carcinogen exposure, and “other adverse life circumstances.” Footnotes specify that “other adverse life circumstances” includes, but is not limited to, sleeping in a place water runs under, and having both foliage and dog poop.
– Statistical models showed a modest association after adjusting for age, smoking, alcohol use, and whether participants regularly tried to signal for help using semaphore.
Researchers located a sample of adults with varying levels of daily heroin use, some of whom preferred bridges for their cultural ambiance. They collected health outcomes over time, because cancer doesn’t usually declare itself in 48 hours and also because grant applications require “longitudinal data.” They did the standard cautious academic thing of saying “association, not causation” in about seven separate sections, each with increasing font size.
Authors recommend improve access to addiction treatment, housing, and clean needles—preferably in places with roofs that keep actual rain off people. They suggest expanded health screenings and primary care outreach to people living outdoors, and decrease stigma, which the paper notes contributes to delayed care, poor nutrition, and weaker research headlines.
If you do heroin every day under a bridge, this study suggests you might want to consider alternatives like treatment, housing, or developing a hard-core alcohol problem until your job and wife leave you.