Sarah G Mar
Biographic Data
| ID | 907984 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah G Mar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah G |
| FAMILY NAME | Mar |
| SIGNATURE | MAR S G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, San Francisco |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7109-8602 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Tranq burn
While this study cannot confirm a causal role, our findings of reported burning sensations and moderate to high acidity of lab-tested drugs are coherent with reported rapid vein loss following initiation of tranq injection. This, in turn, lends early support to a synergistic hypothesis of tranq-related SSTW etiology: vein loss and subcutaneous injections stem from the injection of acidic drugs followed by poor tissue perfusion from vasoconstricti…
Pandemic expertise
This qualitative study explored the experiences of people living with HIV (PLWH) in the San Francisco Bay Area, United States, during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health restrictions at a safety net HIV clinic. Patients (N = 30) were recruited for Spanish/English language semi-structured interviews (n = 30), translated when necessary, and analyzed thematically. The recurring theme of “pandemic expertise” emerged from the data: skil…
Fentanyl smoking in San Francisco
Heroin, once dominating the United States' opioid supply, has been supplanted by the more potent synthetic, fentanyl. In San Francisco, this has been accompanied by drastic changes in price and availability and the novel phenomenon of fentanyl smoking. Ethnographic research among people smoking fentanyl in San Francisco, often living houseless, suggests a process of knowledge reconstruction with the adaptation and discovery of consumption techniq…
"I Heard of PrEP-I Didn't Think I Needed it." Understanding the Formation of HIV Risk Perception Among People Who Inject Drugs
Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains extremely low in the United States. West Virginia's rising HIV incidence and highest drug overdose rate in the nation makes it an important locus for opioid use and HIV risk interaction. In this pilot study we pioneered the use of Cultural Theory among PWID to understand HIV-related risk perception arising from four contrasting modes o…
‘The High Five Club’
In the United States, HIV outbreaks are occurring in areas most affected by the opioid epidemic, including West Virginia (WV). Cultural Theory contends that multiple cultures co-exist within societies distinguished by their differing intensities of rules or norms of behavior (‘grid’) or degree of group allegiance/individual autonomy (‘group’). Accordingly, we would expect that perceptions about HIV, including stigma, correspond with individuals’ …
Sold as Heroin
Since 2001, heroin-related overdose deaths in the United States have risen six-fold, a rise unaccounted for by the expanding user population. Has heroin become a more dangerous drug? Reports of fentanyl and its analogs, often concealed in or sold as heroin, have also increased sharply. This article investigates heroin injectors' perceptions and experiences of changes in the heroin supply in the East Coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, currently fa…
Heroin uncertainties
The Textures of Heroin
Since the 1990s, U.S. heroin consumers have been divided from the full range of available products: east of the Mississippi River, Colombian-sourced powder heroin (PH) dominates the market while, to the west, Mexican-sourced "black tar" (BTH) is the main heroin available. By conducting qualitative research in two exemplar cities, Philadelphia (PH) and San Francisco (BTH), we compare users' experiences of heroin source-types, markets, health conse…
Heroin-related overdose
Every ‘Never’ I Ever Said Came True”
Urban segregation and the US heroin market
MEANINGS & Motives Experts Debating Tobacco Addiction
Over the last 50 years, tobacco has been excluded from and then included in the category of addictive substances. We investigated influences on these opposing definitions and their application in expert witness testimony in litigation in the 1990s and 2000s. A scientist with ties to the tobacco industry influenced the selection of a definition of addiction that led to the classification of tobacco as a “habituation” in the 1964 Surgeon General's …
The Troublesome Legacy of Commissioner Lin. The Opium Trade and Opium Suppression in Fujian Province, 1820s to 1920s
Heroin uncertainties
Heroin-related overdose
MEANINGS & Motives Experts Debating Tobacco Addiction
Over the last 50 years, tobacco has been excluded from and then included in the category of addictive substances. We investigated influences on these opposing definitions and their application in expert witness testimony in litigation in the 1990s and 2000s. A scientist with ties to the tobacco industry influenced the selection of a definition of addiction that led to the classification of tobacco as a “habituation” in the 1964 Surgeon General's …
The Troublesome Legacy of Commissioner Lin. The Opium Trade and Opium Suppression in Fujian Province, 1820s to 1920s
MEANINGS & Motives Experts Debating Tobacco Addiction
Over the last 50 years, tobacco has been excluded from and then included in the category of addictive substances. We investigated influences on these opposing definitions and their application in expert witness testimony in litigation in the 1990s and 2000s. A scientist with ties to the tobacco industry influenced the selection of a definition of addiction that led to the classification of tobacco as a “habituation” in the 1964 Surgeon General's …
Every ‘Never’ I Ever Said Came True”
Urban segregation and the US heroin market
Heroin-related overdose
The Textures of Heroin
Since the 1990s, U.S. heroin consumers have been divided from the full range of available products: east of the Mississippi River, Colombian-sourced powder heroin (PH) dominates the market while, to the west, Mexican-sourced "black tar" (BTH) is the main heroin available. By conducting qualitative research in two exemplar cities, Philadelphia (PH) and San Francisco (BTH), we compare users' experiences of heroin source-types, markets, health conse…
Sold as Heroin
Since 2001, heroin-related overdose deaths in the United States have risen six-fold, a rise unaccounted for by the expanding user population. Has heroin become a more dangerous drug? Reports of fentanyl and its analogs, often concealed in or sold as heroin, have also increased sharply. This article investigates heroin injectors' perceptions and experiences of changes in the heroin supply in the East Coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, currently fa…
Heroin uncertainties
‘The High Five Club’
In the United States, HIV outbreaks are occurring in areas most affected by the opioid epidemic, including West Virginia (WV). Cultural Theory contends that multiple cultures co-exist within societies distinguished by their differing intensities of rules or norms of behavior (‘grid’) or degree of group allegiance/individual autonomy (‘group’). Accordingly, we would expect that perceptions about HIV, including stigma, correspond with individuals’ …
Pandemic expertise
This qualitative study explored the experiences of people living with HIV (PLWH) in the San Francisco Bay Area, United States, during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health restrictions at a safety net HIV clinic. Patients (N = 30) were recruited for Spanish/English language semi-structured interviews (n = 30), translated when necessary, and analyzed thematically. The recurring theme of “pandemic expertise” emerged from the data: skil…
Fentanyl smoking in San Francisco
Heroin, once dominating the United States' opioid supply, has been supplanted by the more potent synthetic, fentanyl. In San Francisco, this has been accompanied by drastic changes in price and availability and the novel phenomenon of fentanyl smoking. Ethnographic research among people smoking fentanyl in San Francisco, often living houseless, suggests a process of knowledge reconstruction with the adaptation and discovery of consumption techniq…
"I Heard of PrEP-I Didn't Think I Needed it." Understanding the Formation of HIV Risk Perception Among People Who Inject Drugs
Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains extremely low in the United States. West Virginia's rising HIV incidence and highest drug overdose rate in the nation makes it an important locus for opioid use and HIV risk interaction. In this pilot study we pioneered the use of Cultural Theory among PWID to understand HIV-related risk perception arising from four contrasting modes o…
Tranq burn
While this study cannot confirm a causal role, our findings of reported burning sensations and moderate to high acidity of lab-tested drugs are coherent with reported rapid vein loss following initiation of tranq injection. This, in turn, lends early support to a synergistic hypothesis of tranq-related SSTW etiology: vein loss and subcutaneous injections stem from the injection of acidic drugs followed by poor tissue perfusion from vasoconstricti…
Medicine (11 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (9 works) · Psychiatry (9 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis (6 works) · Heroin (6 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (6 works) · Drug (5 works) · Political science (5 works)