Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

In Canada, despite rising overdose (OD) deaths among racialized people, there is a lack of research examining patterns and circumstances surrounding these deaths across ethno-racial groups. Currently, there is a paucity of research regarding how the South Asian ethnic identity intersects with gendered experiences of hidden drug use leading to OD death. Based on data from the British Columbia (BC) Coroner's Service, the has been an alarming rise of young South Asian men dying of overdose in BC. The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) provides healthcare facilities and services to many communities, including those in the Fraser East region of BC, which is home to many South Asian residents. In the FHA between 2015 and 2018, the number of drug toxicity deaths of South Asian people who use drugs increased by 255%; most were men (97%) under the age of 40 (66%). In order to effectively address the overdose crisis, there is a critical need to understand gendered socio-cultural dimensions of hidden drug use in South Asian people who use drugs. Using a critical phenomenological approach and multi-modal qualitative research methods (including photovoice), I will examine gendered socio-cultural and structural dimensions that lead South Asian people who use drugs, particularly young men, into hidden drug use.