Navigating opioid overdose risks in a vulnerable social network

This study uses mixed methods social network analysis (MMSNA) to examine the concentration of opioid overdoses among highly vulnerable people embedded in an administrative proxy network in an overdose hot spot. Descriptive network analyses are used to understand the contours of individual and relational overdose risk in an administrative proxy network of people who use and sell opioids. Interviews with market participants are then used to understand the strategies used to mitigate individual risk of death. People who use and sell both develop interactional rules and cultural scripts as prophylactic measures that are tragically limited in preventing unwanted consequences from continued opioid use.