Aim
To assess the effect of involuntary drug treatment (IDT) on non‐fatal overdose among people who inject drugs (PWID).
Design
Longitudinal study.
Setting
Tijuana, Mexico.
Participants
Baseline sample of 671 PWID included 258 (38.4%) women and 413 (61.6%) men.
Measurements
Primary independent variables were reported recent (i.e. past 6 months) non‐fatal overdose event (dependent variable) and IDT. Substance use the day of the non‐fatal overdose was also examined.
Findings
From 2011 to 2017, 213 participants (31.7%) reported a recent non‐fatal overdose and 103 (15.4%) reported recent IDT. Heroin, in combination with methamphetamine and tranquilizers, were the drugs most reported at the day of the event. IDT significantly increased the odds of reporting a non‐fatal overdose event [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.76; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04–2.96]. Odds of non‐fatal overdose also increased independently for each additional injection per day (aOR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.02–1.08), recent tranquilizer use (aOR = 1.92; 95% CI = 1.41–2.61) and using hit doctors (aOR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.29–2.18) and decreased with age (aOR = 0.97 per year, 95% CI = 0.95–0.99).
Conclusions
Recent involuntary drug treatment in Mexico is a risk factor for non‐fatal drug overdose.