“Drug Use with Racism…The Reason I Wanted to Do This Study”: Perceptions of Race and Racism’s Impact on Drug Use among Black Americans Using Opioids

Abstract

Background: Several studies link racism with drug use disparities among systemically marginalized populations. However, few invite Black Americans to discuss how they perceive racism’s impact on their drug use. Objectives: To examine qualitative accounts from N=40 Black adults reporting non-medical prescription opioid use on their experiences of racism and drug use. Results: A deductive structural tabular thematic analysis informed by Jones’s (2000) levels of racism resulted in two themes: (a) Experiences of Racism (subthemes: Denying Experiences of Racism and Endorsing Experiences of Racism) and (b) Race, Racism, and Drug Use (subthemes: Rejecting Race and Racism’s Impact on Drugs and Rejecting Race and Racism’s Impact on Drugs). Conclusions: Participants provided examples of internalized, personally mediated, and institutionalized racism associated with their drug use. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed. Specifically, implications detail how to center Black Americans and demonstrate anti-racism when developing treatment strategies and drug policies.