Erica McAdam

B.A. (Hons.) in Law, Carleton University, 2016
Master of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, 2022

Erica is a white settler who was raised on the traditional and unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples and currently lives, works, and rests on the unceded and stolen lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Erica is a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program at the University of British Columbia, in epidemiology and public policy, and is a recent graduate from the Master of Public Policy program at Simon Fraser University. Erica is a substance use policy researcher and the Cohort Research Manager at the BC Centre on Substance Use. Erica’s doctoral research focuses on evaluating the effects of drug decriminalization in B.C. on youth and young adults who use drugs, a particularly marginalized group of people who use drugs.

The failure of drug prohibition to prevent the problematic use of psychoactive substances is well documented. Furthermore, the primary tools of prohibition, notably street-level policing, arrests, and incarceration have been found to increase risks for multiple drug-related harms, including overdose and acquisition of HIV and other infectious diseases. Recently, as part of its response to the ongoing overdose public health emergency, the In January 2023, the Province of BC became the first jurisdiction in Canada to decriminalize the personal possession of some illicit substances. There is an urgent need to evaluate the risks and benefits of decriminalization of personal possession of so-called hard drugs, especially among members of vulnerable groups like street-involved youth and young adults who use drugs. To improve government policies and better inform decriminalization approaches in BC, Canada, and beyond, my research seeks to undertake a mixed-methods evaluation of the effects of decriminalization on street-involved youth and young adults who use drugs in Vancouver, BC.

Decriminalization; Drug policy; Substance use; Overdose; Criminalization;

McAdam, E., Hayashi, K., Dong, H., Cui, Z., Sedgemore, K., Dietze, P., Phillips, P., Wilson, D., Milloy, M.-J., & DeBeck, K. (2022). Factors associated with perceived decline in the quality of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from community-recruited cohorts of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Vol. 236, 109471.

McAdam, E., Hayashi, K., Barker, B., Reddon, H., Choi, J., Kerr, T., & DeBeck, K. (2024). COVID-19 vaccination among young people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Vaccine, Vol. 42, Iss. 4.

McAdam, E., Small, W., Mullins, G., Graham, B., Greer, A., Winder, N., & DeBeck, K. (2023). Decriminalization thresholds for drug possession: A multi-criteria policy analysis framework. International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 119, 104126.