Emergence of Wasp Dope in Rural Appalachian Kentucky - PMC
Skip to main content
Official websites use .gov
.gov website belongs to an official<br>government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
Lock
Locked padlock icon
) or https:// means you've safely<br>connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive<br>information only on official, secure websites.
Search PMC Full-Text Archive
Search in PMC
Journal List
User Guide
PERMALINK
Copy
As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with,<br>the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more:<br>PMC Disclaimer
PMC Copyright Notice
Addiction<br>. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Addiction. 2020 Nov 13;116(7):1901–1907. doi: 10.1111/add.15291
Emergence of Wasp Dope in Rural Appalachian Kentucky
April M Young<br>April M Young
aDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky
bCenter on Drug and Alcohol Research, Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
Find articles by April M Young
a,b, Melvin Livingston<br>Melvin Livingston
cDepartment of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
Find articles by Melvin Livingston
c, Rachel Vickers-Smith<br>Rachel Vickers-Smith
aDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky
bCenter on Drug and Alcohol Research, Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
dSchool of Nursing, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
Find articles by Rachel Vickers-Smith
a,b,d, Hannah LF Cooper<br>Hannah LF Cooper
cDepartment of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
Find articles by Hannah LF Cooper
Author information
Article notes
Copyright and License information
aDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky
bCenter on Drug and Alcohol Research, Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
cDepartment of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
dSchool of Nursing, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
✉Corresponding Author : April M Young, Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky, 111 Washington Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky United States, Phone: (859) 218-2090; April.young@uky.edu
Issue date 2021 Jul.
PMC Copyright notice
PMCID: PMC8046840 NIHMSID: NIHMS1662815 PMID: 33063438
The publisher's version of this article is available at Addiction
Abstract
Background and aim:
Recent reports have highlighted the emergence of “wasp dope” as an issue of concern, but epidemiologic evidence is lacking. Wasp dope is a crystalline substance created by electrifying pyrethroid-containing insecticides (e.g., wasp sprays) that may give users a methamphetamine-like “rush”. This paper describes wasp dope use and correlates of use in a sample of people who use drugs (PWUD) in Appalachian Kentucky, a region that has been an epicenter of opioid use and related harms in the US.
Methods:
Respondent-driven sampling and targeted street outreach were used to recruit PWUD. Eligibility criteria included being at least 18 years old, residing in one of five Appalachian Kentucky counties, and having either used opioids or injected any drug to get high in the prior 30 days. Interviewer-administered surveys queried participants’ (n=278) recent (past 6 month) wasp dope use, other substance use, and demographic characteristics. Prevalence ratios were estimated using generalized estimating equations assuming a Poisson outcome distribution in a cross-sectional analysis.
Results:
Recent wasp dope use was reported by 16.1% of participants. Men and people who recently experienced homelessness and transportation difficulties were twice or more as likely to have used wasp dope compared with their counterparts (PR=2.08 95%CI[1.11, 3.87], PR=2.78 95%CI[1.64, 4.72], and PR=2.01 95% CI[1.06–3.81], respectively). While wasp dope use was associated with injection drug use and using opioids and other substances to get high in unadjusted analyses, the factor most strongly associated with wasp dope use was methamphetamine use (PR=17.23 95%CI[2.57, 115.61]), specifically methamphetamine injection (PR=4.47 95%CI[1.56, 12.78]).
Conclusions:
Among people who use drugs in rural Kentucky, USA, nearly one in six people surveyed reported using wasp dope in the past 6 months, rivaling the percentage using cocaine/crack and fentanyl/carfentanil use. Wasp dope use was higher among men...