The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #70871

Deborah Kacanek, ScD, Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave., Kresge Building, 3rd Floor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston, MA 02115, 617-983-9325, dkacanek@hsph.harvard.edu and David Hemenway, PhD, Health Policy and Management, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.

Purpose: This paper examines the association between participation in the illegal drug economy and recent gun carrying among young incarcerated men and women. It also explores the association of gun-related victimization and gun carrying. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 18-25 year-old men (n=135) and women (n=69) in a state prison and jail from 8/99-10/00. “Hard drug use” (cocaine, heroin, or both) and three aspects of drug selling were examined: Selling crack cocaine, duration of selling illegal drugs, and selling illegal drugs as a primary income source. Results: Gun carrying and gun-related victimization were more prevalent among men than women. Nearly half of men (45%) and 16% of women reported carrying a gun sometimes, often, or always in the year prior to incarceration (p<.0001). Respondents selling crack were more likely to have carried guns before incarceration than those who did not sell drugs (men: OR=10.7, 95% CI=3.1, 37.1; women: OR=8.6, 95% CI=0.9, 83.9). Selling drugs >5 years, and, among men, selling drugs as a primary income source were associated with gun carrying. However, hard drug use was not associated with gun carrying among men. All ten women who carried guns used hard drugs. Two thirds of men (67%) and 28% of women were shot at in their lifetimes. In multivariate analyses of men, selling crack (OR=10.2, 95% CI=2.5, 42.1), and ever being shot at (OR=4.6, 95% CI=1.7, 12.2), were associated with carrying guns (controlling for age, race/ethnicity). Conclusions: These findings provide evidence of a link between crack selling and gun carrying.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to
• 1.Describe the extent of previous gun carrying and drug selling in a sample of incarcerated young women and men
• 2.Articulate how gun carrying in this population is patterned according to degree of involvement in the illegal drug economy

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Incarceration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.