Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston,Texas |
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| Authors: | Alice Cepeda Avelardo Valdez Charles Kaplan Larry E. Hill |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology and Associate Director at the Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, University of Houston, TX, United States;2. Professor and Director at the Graduate College of Social Work, Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, University of Houston, TX, United States;3. Associate Dean of Research and Research Professor at the Graduate College of Social Work, Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, University of Houston, TX, United States;4. PhD student at the Graduate College of Social Work, Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, University of Houston, TX, United States. |
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| Abstract: | This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre‐disaster and within‐disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston were collected 8–14 months after the disaster. Multivariate analysis revealed that rises in AT use were positively associated with education. Females and younger evacuees were more likely to have increased AT use. ID use increase was positively associated with resource loss and leaving the city before Katrina. Decreases in AT and ID use were found to be associated with disaster‐related exposure. The paper discusses the specific consequences of disasters on disadvantaged minority substance users and the importance of developing public health disaster policies that target this population. |
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| Keywords: | African American alcohol disasters illicit drugs Hurricane Katrina resource loss risk factors tobacco |
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