Leo Beletsky
Biographic Data
| ID | 4018098 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leo Beletsky |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leo |
| FAMILY NAME | Beletsky |
| SIGNATURE | BELETSKY L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northeastern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0726-0676 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 56 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 109 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 56 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Implementation of State Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Mandatory Checking Requirements and Prescribed Opioid Analgesic Use Among Women With and Without HIV in The Women’s Interagency HIV Study
Implementation of harm reduction strategies in criminal-legal systems
BACKGROUND: Harm reduction is a public health approach that emphasizes strategies to reduce the negative consequences of drug use. Rising overdose deaths in the United States have prompted integration of harm reduction strategies within criminal-legal systems (CLS), which have historically emphasized deterrence. However, the scope and nature of these strategies across the CLS remain poorly understood. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review, in ac…
Occupational Stress and Substance Use-Related Stigma Among Criminal Attorneys
Problematic substance use is a national crisis in the United States. While criminalization of substance use places the criminal legal system (CLS) on the front lines of this crisis, little is known about how this impacts the CLS workforce. From October 2022 to March 2023, informed by the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework, we conducted qualitative interviews with practicing criminal attorneys using a semi-structured interview guide focuse…
Improving first responders’ perceptions of overdose events and survivors through tailored occupational health-focused training co-facilitated by overdose survivors
BACKGROUND: First responders (law enforcement officers, emergency medical services, and firefighters) frequently interact with people who use drugs (PWUD). Based on the nature and outcomes of such encounters, these interactions have the potential either to reduce harm, or perpetuate it. Given increased funding and attention for first responder-led interventions involving PWUD, we must identify the most critical training for improving negative bel…
Privacy and confidentiality in Massachusetts' post-overdose outreach programs
Popular media misinformation on neonatal abstinence syndrome, 2015–2021
Since misinformation contributes to punitive legal responses and harms patient care, efforts to prevent, monitor, and address inaccurate and stigmatizing narratives are essential to improving policy and practice
Characteristics of post-overdose outreach programs and municipal-level opioid overdose in Massachusetts
Unlocking deflection
The police paradox
The introduction of fentanyl on the US–Mexico border
Modelling the contribution of incarceration and public health oriented drug law reform to HCV transmission and elimination among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico
Warrant checking practices by post-overdose outreach programs in Massachusetts
Build It Better for Public Health
Impact of SHIELD Police Training on Knowledge of Syringe Possession Laws and Related Arrests in Tijuana, Mexico
Between 2015 and 2018, we provided training for 1806 municipal police officers in Tijuana, Mexico, in an effort to improve their knowledge and behaviors related to HIV and injection drug use. Correct knowledge of syringe possession laws improved from 56% before training to 94% after training and was sustained at 24 months (75%). Knowledge improvement was associated with decreases in arrests for syringe possession over time (adjusted odds ratio [A…
Can touch this
Misinformation about overdose risk from accidentally inhaling or touching fentanyl is widespread among police in the United States. This may aggravate already elevated burdens of officer stress and burnout, while chilling lifesaving overdose response. Police education has shown promise in reducing false beliefs about fentanyl. To better understand the potential of training interventions in correcting officer knowledge, we administered a 10-min on…
Harm Reduction, By Mail
Assessing HIV and overdose risks for people who use drugs exposed to compulsory drug abstinence programs (CDAP)
Intersectional structural vulnerability to abusive policing among people who inject drugs
HIV’s Trajectory
AffiliationsLeo Beletsky is with the School of Law, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, and Health in Justice Action Lab, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, and the Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA. Meaghan Thumath is with the School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, and the Centre for Evidence Based Int…
“Pick up anything that moves”
Drugs, discipline and death
Tackling the overdose crisis
No “back to normal” after Covid-19 for our failed drug policies
Fentanyl panic goes viral
Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response
Alexander Tsai and co-authors discuss the role of stigma in responses to the US opioid crisis.
Opioid Crisis
The accepted wisdom about the US overdose crisis singles out prescribing as the causative vector. Although drug supply is a key factor, we posit that the crisis is fundamentally fueled by economic and social upheaval, its etiology closely linked to the role of opioids as a refuge from physical and psychological trauma, concentrated disadvantage, isolation, and hopelessness. Overreliance on opioid medications is emblematic of a health care system …
Police Officers’ and Paramedics’ Experiences with Overdose and Their Knowledge and Opinions of Washington State’s Drug Overdose–Naloxone–Good Samaritan Law
Police Training to Align Law Enforcement and HIV Prevention
Having identified gaps in implementation of Rhode Island's syringe access law and police occupational safety education, public health and police professionals developed police training to boost legal knowledge, improve syringe access attitudes, and address needlestick injuries. Baseline data (94 officers) confirmed anxiety about needlestick injuries, poor legal knowledge, and occupational risk overestimation. Before training, respondents believed…
Implementing Mexico’s “Narcomenudeo” Drug Law Reform
In 2009, Mexico decriminalized small-scale drug possession, instituting drug treatment diversion in lieu of incarceration. To assess initial reform impact, our mixed methods study integrated a structured questionnaire with in-depth interviews assessing legal knowledge, police encounters, and risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana. Between 2010 and 2013, we recruited 737 adults; 32 participated in qualitative interviews. On…
Police Encounters Among Needle Exchange Clients in Baltimore
Objectives. We piloted a monitoring mechanism to document police encounters around programs targeting people who inject drugs (PWID), and assessed their demographic predictors at 2 Baltimore, Maryland, needle exchange program (NEP) sites. Methods. In a brief survey, 308 clients quantified, characterized, and sited recent police encounters. Multivariate linear regression determined encounter predictors, and we used geocoordinate maps to illustrate…
Syringe Confiscation as an HIV Risk Factor
The Law (and Politics) of Safe Injection Facilities in the United States
Safe injection facilities (SIFs) have shown promise in reducing harms and social costs associated with injection drug use. Favorable evaluations elsewhere have raised the issue of their implementation in the United States. Recognizing that laws shape health interventions targeting drug users, we analyzed the legal environment for publicly authorized SIFs in the United States. Although states and some municipalities have the power to authorize SIF…
Life After the Ban
Objectives. We aimed to determine whether syringe exchange programs (SEPs) currently receive or anticipate pursuing federal funding and barriers to funding applications following the recent removal of the long-standing ban on using federal funds for SEPs. Methods. We conducted a telephone-administered cross-sectional survey of US SEPs. Descriptive statistics summarized responses; bivariate analyses examined differences in pursuing funding and exp…
Physicians’ Knowledge of and Willingness to Prescribe Naloxone to Reverse Accidental Opiate Overdose
Engaging Law Enforcement in Overdose Reversal Initiatives
Opioid overdose is reversible through the timely administration of naloxone, which has been used by emergency medical services for decades. Law enforcement officers (LEOs) are often the first emergency responders to arrive at an overdose, but they are not typically equipped with naloxone. This is rapidly changing; more than 220 law enforcement agencies in 24 states now carry naloxone. However, rollout in some departments has been hampered by conc…
Examining the Spatial Distribution of Law Enforcement Encounters among People Who Inject Drugs after Implementation of Mexico’s Drug Policy Reform
Build It Better for Public Health
Interactive Versus Video-Based Training of Police to Communicate Syringe Legality to People Who Inject Drugs
Objectives. To assess how instructional techniques affect officers’ intent to communicate syringe legality during searches in Tijuana, Mexico, where pervasive syringe confiscation potentiates risk of HIV and HCV among people who inject drugs (PWID) and of occupational needle-stick injury among police. Methods. Using the SHIELD (Safety and Health Integration in the Enforcement of Laws on Drugs) model, Tijuana police underwent training to encourage…
The Inmate Exception and Reform of Correctional Health Care
Attitudes of police officers towards syringe access, occupational needle-sticks, and drug use
Physicians’ Knowledge of and Willingness to Prescribe Naloxone to Reverse Accidental Opiate Overdose
The Law (and Politics) of Safe Injection Facilities in the United States
Safe injection facilities (SIFs) have shown promise in reducing harms and social costs associated with injection drug use. Favorable evaluations elsewhere have raised the issue of their implementation in the United States. Recognizing that laws shape health interventions targeting drug users, we analyzed the legal environment for publicly authorized SIFs in the United States. Although states and some municipalities have the power to authorize SIF…
Social and Structural Factors Associated with HIV Infection among Female Sex Workers Who Inject Drugs in the Mexico-US Border Region
BACKGROUND: FSWs who inject drugs (FSW-IDUs) can acquire HIV through high risk sexual and injection behaviors. We studied correlates of HIV infection among FSW-IDUs in northern Mexico, where sex work is quasi-legal and syringes can be legally obtained without a prescription. METHODS: FSW-IDUs>18 years old who reported injecting drugs and recent unprotected sex with clients in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez underwent surveys and HIV/STI testing. Logist…
Police Training to Align Law Enforcement and HIV Prevention
Having identified gaps in implementation of Rhode Island's syringe access law and police occupational safety education, public health and police professionals developed police training to boost legal knowledge, improve syringe access attitudes, and address needlestick injuries. Baseline data (94 officers) confirmed anxiety about needlestick injuries, poor legal knowledge, and occupational risk overestimation. Before training, respondents believed…
Mexico's northern border conflict
Collateral damage from police practices in the context of Mexico's drug conflict may affect public health in the Northern Border Region. Itinerant officers may facilitate disease spread beyond the region. The urgency for mounting structural interventions is discussed
Syringe Confiscation as an HIV Risk Factor
Life After the Ban
Objectives. We aimed to determine whether syringe exchange programs (SEPs) currently receive or anticipate pursuing federal funding and barriers to funding applications following the recent removal of the long-standing ban on using federal funds for SEPs. Methods. We conducted a telephone-administered cross-sectional survey of US SEPs. Descriptive statistics summarized responses; bivariate analyses examined differences in pursuing funding and exp…
Access to syringes for HIV prevention for injection drug users in St. Petersburg, Russia
Trainings for pharmacists need to be conducted to reduce negative attitudes towards IDUs and increase pharmacists' willingness to sell syringes. At a structural level, access to safe injection supplies for IDUs could be increased by including syringes in the federal list of mandatory medical products sold by pharmacies
Police Officers’ and Paramedics’ Experiences with Overdose and Their Knowledge and Opinions of Washington State’s Drug Overdose–Naloxone–Good Samaritan Law
Syringe access, syringe sharing, and police encounters among people who inject drugs in New York City
Mexico's drug policy reform
Examining the Spatial Distribution of Law Enforcement Encounters among People Who Inject Drugs after Implementation of Mexico’s Drug Policy Reform
Institutional stakeholder perceptions of barriers to addiction treatment under Mexico's drug policy reform
Mexico has experienced disproportionate drug-related harms given its role as a production and transit zone for illegal drugs destined primarily for the USA. In response, in 2009, the Mexican federal government passed legislation mandating pre-arrest diversion of drug-dependent individuals towards addiction treatment. However, this federal law was not specific about how the scale-up of the addiction treatment sector was to be operationalised. We t…
HIV, drugs and the legal environment
A large body of scientific evidence indicates that policies based solely on law enforcement without taking into account public health and human rights considerations increase the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and their communities. Although formal laws are an important component of the legal environment supporting harm reduction, it is the enforcement of the law that affects PWIDs' behavior and attitudes most acutely. This comme…
Implementing Mexico’s “Narcomenudeo” Drug Law Reform
In 2009, Mexico decriminalized small-scale drug possession, instituting drug treatment diversion in lieu of incarceration. To assess initial reform impact, our mixed methods study integrated a structured questionnaire with in-depth interviews assessing legal knowledge, police encounters, and risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana. Between 2010 and 2013, we recruited 737 adults; 32 participated in qualitative interviews. On…
Police Encounters Among Needle Exchange Clients in Baltimore
Objectives. We piloted a monitoring mechanism to document police encounters around programs targeting people who inject drugs (PWID), and assessed their demographic predictors at 2 Baltimore, Maryland, needle exchange program (NEP) sites. Methods. In a brief survey, 308 clients quantified, characterized, and sited recent police encounters. Multivariate linear regression determined encounter predictors, and we used geocoordinate maps to illustrate…
Engaging Law Enforcement in Overdose Reversal Initiatives
Opioid overdose is reversible through the timely administration of naloxone, which has been used by emergency medical services for decades. Law enforcement officers (LEOs) are often the first emergency responders to arrive at an overdose, but they are not typically equipped with naloxone. This is rapidly changing; more than 220 law enforcement agencies in 24 states now carry naloxone. However, rollout in some departments has been hampered by conc…
Differential experiences of Mexican policing by people who inject drugs residing in Tijuana and San Diego
Today’s fentanyl crisis
Assessing police officers’ attitudes and legal knowledge on behaviors that impact HIV transmission among people who inject drugs
Health-damaging policing practices among persons who inject drugs in Mexico
Occupational Safety in the Age of the Opioid Crisis
The Inmate Exception and Reform of Correctional Health Care
A Public Health Strategy for the Opioid Crisis
Drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death in the United States. Most overdose fatalities involve opioids, which include prescription medication, heroin, and illicit fentanyl. Current data reveal that the overdose crisis affects all demographic groups and that overdose rates are now rising most rapidly among African Americans. We provide a public health perspective that can be used to mobilize a comprehensive local, state, and nationa…
Medicine (46 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (38 works) · Political science (35 works) · Law (33 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (32 works) · Public health (27 works) · Nursing (25 works) · Law (23 works) · Environmental health (22 works) · Psychiatry (22 works)