Ricky Bluthenthal, PhD

Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Chair of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also the Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine. He received a BA in History and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz and a MA and PhD in sociology from the University of California Berkeley. His research has established the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs, tested novel interventions and strategies to reduce HIV risk and improve HIV testing among injection drug users and men who have sex with men, documented how community conditions contribute to health disparities, and examined health policy implementation. His current studies include an observational cohort study of how cannabis legalization impacts use patterns and health outcomes of cannabis and opioids among people who inject drugs and a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a single session intervention to reduce injection initiation risk behaviors among established people who inject drugs. Dr. Bluthenthal has authored or co-authored over 200 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, The Lancet, Addiction, and Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research among others. He is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Drug Policy and the Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

#Courses
Program Evaluation and Research
Introduction to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Qualitative Research Methods in Public Health
Practice of Public Health

• UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA — PhD — 12/1998 — Sociology
• UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA — MA — 12/1990 — Sociology
• UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA — BA — 06/1986 — History & Sociology

• Cannabis use and health outcomes among opioid-using people who inject drugs in the context of cannabis legalization
  NIH · R01DA046049 · Feb 1, 2019 – Nov 30, 2023 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Preventing injection initiation: The Change The Cycle Randomized Controlled Trial
  NIH · R01DA038965 · Aug 1, 2015 – Jun 30, 2020 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Partners for Strong, Healthy Families (PSHF)
  NIH · R24MD007978 · Aug 8, 2013 – Mar 21, 2018 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Exploratory Research on Late Initiation of Drug Injection
  NIH · R01DA027689 · Sep 30, 2010 – Aug 31, 2015 · Role: Principal Investigator
• PS08-002, THE HJ MILE HIV PREVENTION INTERVENTION
  NIH · UR6PS001098 · Sep 30, 2008 – Sep 29, 2013 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Impact of Business Improvement District on Youth Violenc
  NIH · U49CE000773 · Sep 1, 2005 – Aug 31, 2010 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Understanding Outcome Disparities in Alcohol Treatment
  NIH · R21AA013813 · May 8, 2003 – Apr 30, 2006 · Role: Principal Investigator
• COMMUNITY CONTEXT, SEP OPERATIONS, &HIV RISK AMONG IDUs
  NIH · R01DA014210 · Sep 30, 2002 – Nov 30, 2007 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Malt beverage use &outcomes in a minority community
  NIH · R21AA013534 · Sep 29, 2001 – Aug 31, 2004 · Role: Principal Investigator
• SYRINGE EXCHANGE PEER MOBILIZATION INTERVENTION
  NIH · R01DA009532 · Jul 15, 1995 – Mar 31, 2007 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator

• Elected Officials Should Listen to Ricky Bluthenthal (02/26/2014)

• Material hardship moderates the association between cannabis use frequency and opioid withdrawal frequency among people who inject drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2026 Jul 21; 286:113284.. View in PubMed
• “Do you guys tell anybody?”: Exploring allocation and implementation of opioid settlement funds and reduced access to health vending machines for people who use drugs. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2026 Jul 09.. View in PubMed
• Profiles of stress and their associations with substance use among adults of color. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2026 Aug 01; 285:113219.. View in PubMed
• Passport to Wellness Intervention: Selecting and Training Peer Mentors and Their Reflections on Supporting to Black Sexual Minority Men’s Social and Health Needs. J Homosex. 2026 May 18; 1.. View in PubMed
• HIV-Stigmatizing Beliefs and Attitudes as a Barrier to Early PrEP Care Continuum Engagement Among People Who Inject Drugs. AIDS Behav. 2026 Apr 09.. View in PubMed
• Expanding power and opportunity in public health education: the continuous learning for antiracist culture change fellowship program. Front Public Health. 2026; 14:1766034.. View in PubMed
• Understanding the Impact of Structural Racism and Violence Across the Lifespan on Overdose Vulnerability Among Black San Franciscans Experiencing Homelessness. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2026 Mar 17; 1.. View in PubMed
• Development and Validation of a Provider-Specific Anticipated Stigma Scale for People Who Inject Drugs. AIDS Behav. 2026 Mar 14.. View in PubMed
• Childhood trauma and everyday discrimination: Associations with psychological and physiological health. Mil Psychol. 2026 Feb 25; 1.. View in PubMed
• Healthcare First: Delivering Immediate, Non-Contingent, and Coordinated Services Through the Street Medicine Model. Res Sq. 2026 Feb 12.. View in PubMed
• Housing and displacement as risk factors for negative health outcomes among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, CA, and Denver, CO, USA. BMC Public Health. 2026 Jan 31; 26(1).. View in PubMed
• Breaking barriers: evaluating access models for harm reduction vending machines. Int J Drug Policy. 2026 Jan; 147:105079.. View in PubMed
• Transforming academic public health mentorship: implementation and expansion of MOSAIC. Front Public Health. 2025; 13:1640606.. View in PubMed
• Methodological Lessons Learned From a Longitudinal Study of Overdose Vulnerability Among People Experiencing Homelessness Who Co-use Fentanyl and Stimulants in San Francisco, CA, USA. Int J Qual Methods. 2025 Jan-Dec; 24.. View in PubMed
• “We Weren’t Taught How to Cope With Tragedy”: Early Childhood Trauma, Grief, and Learned Coping Mechanisms Among People Who Inject Drugs. Subst Use. 2025 Jan-Dec; 19:29768357251383754.. View in PubMed
• Displacement, health outcomes, and the human rights of people experiencing homelessness in the USA. Lancet Public Health. 2025 Oct; 10(10):e874-e878.. View in PubMed
• Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis. Health Aff (Millwood). 2025 09; 44(9):1042-1049.. View in PubMed
• Perspectives on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) access and service delivery among a community sample of people who use opioids in Los Angeles. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2025 Sep; 176:209742.. View in PubMed
• Implementation Gaps in US Syringe Services Programs, 2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jul 01; 8(7):e2522764.. View in PubMed
• “It’s Not Just One Decision, It’s a Whole Lifestyle Change”: Mixed Methods Analysis of Factors Associated with Readiness to Change Substance Use Patterns Among Community Recruited People Who Inject Drugs. Subst Use Misuse. 2025; 60(12):1787-1798.. View in PubMed
• Risk factors for multiple skin abscesses among community-recruited people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, CA, and Denver, CO: a cross-sectional study. Ther Adv Infect Dis. 2025 Jan-Dec; 12:20499361251344765.. View in PubMed
• Health and Economic Costs of Homelessness. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jun 02; 8(6):e2517111.. View in PubMed
• Heroin injection to fentanyl smoking: Examining temporal trends in substance type and route of administration among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO, USA between 2021-2022. Int J Drug Policy. 2025 09; 143:104864.. View in PubMed
• Psychiatric Medication Treatment, Concurrent Substance Use, and Subsistence Difficulty Among People Who Inject Drugs with Diagnosed Mental Health Disorders in Los Angeles and Denver. Subst Use Misuse. 2025; 60(10):1556-1564.. View in PubMed
• “You don’t have the right resources to let it hurt”: How structural vulnerabilities shape opioid withdrawal experiences among a community sample of people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, California. Harm Reduct J. 2025 05 19; 22(1):82.. View in PubMed
• “You take care of people, people will take care of you”: Moral Economies and an Unpredictable Drug Market. PLoS One. 2025; 20(4):e0320423.. View in PubMed
• Material hardship, forced displacement, and negative health outcomes among unhoused people who use drugs in Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado: a latent class analysis. BMC Public Health. 2025 Feb 13; 25(1):591.. View in PubMed
• Risk Factors for Infective Endocarditis and Serious Injection Related Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Apr 01; 269:112588.. View in PubMed
• Association of safer smoking supply distribution with participant encounters and naloxone distribution from syringe services programs: Findings from the National Survey of Syringe Services Programs in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2025 Mar; 14:100317.. View in PubMed
• Material Hardship, Forced Displacement, and Negative Health Outcomes Among Unhoused People Who Use Drugs in Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado: A Latent Class Analysis. Res Sq. 2024 Dec 18.. View in PubMed
• Sleep Health among Community-Recruited Opioid-Using People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO. J Urban Health. 2024 Oct; 101(5):1058-1067.. View in PubMed
• A Scoping Review of the Utilization of Opioid Use Treatment, Harm Reduction, and Culturally Tailored Interventions Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the United States. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2025; 23(6):4612-4653.. View in PubMed
• Racialized environments and syringe services program implementation: County-level factors. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2024 Oct 01; 263:112430.. View in PubMed
• The fentanyl made me feel like I needed more methadone”: changes in the role and use of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) due to fentanyl. Harm Reduct J. 2024 08 24; 21(1):156.. View in PubMed
• Housing and Displacement as Risk Factors for Negative Health Outcomes Among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA, and Denver, CO, USA. Res Sq. 2024 Aug 17.. View in PubMed
• “Smoking weed it gets you over the hump”: Cannabis co-use as a facilitator of decreased opioid use among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, California. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2024 Sep; 12:100257.. View in PubMed
• “Even Though the System Had Failed Him His Entire Life, We Were Failing Him Yet Again”: How Clinical, Welfare, and Penal Medicine Interact to Drive Health Inequities and Medical Moral Injury. Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Jul 07; 12(13).. View in PubMed
• How Should Harm Reduction Be Included in Care Continua for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder? AMA J Ethics. 2024 07 01; 26(7):E562-571. Salisbury-Afshar E, Livingston CJ, Bluthenthal RN . View in PubMed
• A Multicomponent Intervention (POSSIBLE) to Improve Perceived Risk for HIV Among Black Sexual Minority Men: Feasibility and Preliminary Effectiveness Pilot Study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2024 06 11; 11:e54739.. View in PubMed
• Racial discrimination and substance use among people of color. Psychol Addict Behav. 2024 Jun; 38(4):405-408.. View in PubMed
• Comparing harm reduction and overdose response services between community-based and public health department syringe service programmes using a national cross-sectional survey. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2024 Jun; 34:100757.. View in PubMed
• Opioid use, prescribing and fatal overdose patterns among racial/ethnic minorities in the United States: A scoping review and conceptual risk environment model. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2024 07; 43(5):1143-1159.. View in PubMed
• Funding and Delivery of Syringe Services Programs in the United States, 2022. Am J Public Health. 2024 04; 114(4):435-443.. View in PubMed
• Financial barriers, facilitators, and strategies among syringe services programs in the U.S., and their impact on implementation and health outcomes. SSM Qual Res Health. 2024 Jun; 5.. View in PubMed
• Placement into Scattered-Site or Place-Based Permanent Supportive Housing in Los Angeles County, CA, During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Adm Policy Ment Health. 2024 09; 51(5):805-817.. View in PubMed
• Organize and mobilize for implementation effectiveness to improve overdose education and naloxone distribution from syringe services programs: a randomized controlled trial. Implement Sci. 2024 02 28; 19(1):22.. View in PubMed
• Characterizing Opioid Withdrawal Experiences and Consequences Among a Community Sample of People Who Use Opioids. Subst Use Misuse. 2024; 59(6):886-894.. View in PubMed
• Updates on syringe coverage and service uptake among needle and syringe programs in the United States, 2019-2020. Int J Drug Policy. 2024 01; 123:104289.. View in PubMed
• Characterizing prescription opioid, heroin, and fentanyl initiation trajectories: A qualitative study. Soc Sci Med. 2024 01; 340:116441.. View in PubMed
• “Notice of major cleaning”: A qualitative study of the negative impact of encampment sweeps on the ontological security of unhoused people who use drugs. Soc Sci Med. 2023 12; 339:116408.. View in PubMed
• Abolition and harm reduction in the struggle for “Care, Not Cages”. Int J Drug Policy. 2023 11; 121:104163.. View in PubMed
• Availability of telehealth-based services at syringe services programs under the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Harm Reduct J. 2023 09 02; 20(1):122.. View in PubMed
• ‘New evidence’ for Syringe Services Programs? A call for rigor and skepticism. Int J Drug Policy. 2023 11; 121:104107.. View in PubMed
• Bringing Lived Experience to Research on Health and Homelessness: Perspectives of Researchers and Lived Experience Partners. Community Ment Health J. 2023 10; 59(7):1235-1242.. View in PubMed
• Population-Level Health Effects of Involuntary Displacement of People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness Who Inject Drugs in US Cities. JAMA. 2023 05 02; 329(17):1478-1486.. View in PubMed
• Investigating the Comparative Effectiveness of Place-Based and Scatter-Site Permanent Supportive Housing for People Experiencing Homelessness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocols for a Mixed Methods, Prospective Longitudinal Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Apr 28; 12:e46782.. View in PubMed
• Martin Y. Iguchi (1955-2021). Am Psychol. 2023 Jul-Aug; 78(5):721.. View in PubMed
• Interrupted Time Series Analysis: Patient Characteristics and Rates of Opioid-Use-Disorder-Related Emergency Department Visits in the Los Angeles County Public Hospital System during COVID-19. Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Mar 29; 11(7).. View in PubMed
• A National Portrait of Public Attitudes toward Opioid Use in the US: A Latent Class Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 03 02; 20(5).. View in PubMed
• How do contextual factors influence naloxone distribution from syringe service programs in the USA: a cross-sectional study. Harm Reduct J. 2023 02 28; 20(1):26.. View in PubMed
• Substance use policy and practice in the COVID-19 pandemic: Learning from early pandemic responses through internationally comparative field data. Glob Public Health. 2022 12; 17(12):3654-3669.. View in PubMed
• Advocacy for Health Justice: An Innovative Pilot Course for MD and Master of Public Policy Students. Teach Learn Med. 2024 Apr-May; 36(2):198-210.. View in PubMed
• Effect of Didactic Training on Barriers and Biases to Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: Meeting the Ongoing Needs of Patients with Opioid Use Disorder in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Nov 29; 10(12).. View in PubMed
• A qualitative analysis of internal medicine residents’ experience with substance use disorder education and training: a pilot study. J Addict Dis. 2024 Jan-Mar; 42(1):63-70.. View in PubMed
• Refining a Multicomponent Intervention to Increase Perceived HIV Risk and PrEP Initiation: Focus Group Study Among Black Sexual Minority Men. JMIR Form Res. 2022 Aug 10; 6(8):e34181.. View in PubMed
• Trajectories of Nicotine Use Leading to Dual and Cyclical Tobacco Product Use in Young Adults. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 06 15; 24(7):986-993.. View in PubMed
• Best practices for community-based overdose education and naloxone distribution programs: results from using the Delphi approach. Harm Reduct J. 2022 05 28; 19(1):55.. View in PubMed
• Buprenorphine implementation at syringe service programs following waiver of the Ryan Haight Act in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 08 01; 237:109504.. View in PubMed
• A chocolate cake or a chocolate vape? Young adults describe their relationship with food and weight in the context of nicotine vaping. Appetite. 2022 Aug 01; 175:106075.. View in PubMed
• Health risk associated with residential relocation among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA: a cross sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2022 04 25; 22(1):823.. View in PubMed
• Predictors of protein intake among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Am J Addict. 2022 05; 31(3):228-235.. View in PubMed
• Critical Challenges and Creative Solutions for Quantifying Nicotine Vaping: Qualitative Reports From Young Adults. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 02 14; 24(3):416-420.. View in PubMed
• Principles and Metrics for Evaluating Oregon’s Innovative Drug Decriminalization Measure. J Urban Health. 2022 04; 99(2):328-331.. View in PubMed
• HIV Treatment Adherence Strategies Among Virally Suppressed Black Sexual Minority Men in Baltimore, Maryland, and Los Angeles, California: A Theory-Based Qualitative Study. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 2022 Jan-Feb 01; 33(1):54-62.. View in PubMed
• Growing racial/ethnic disparities in overdose mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. Prev Med. 2021 12; 153:106845.. View in PubMed
• Transition from injecting opioids to smoking fentanyl in San Francisco, California. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 10 01; 227:109003.. View in PubMed
• Observational “go-alongs” of follow-up HIV care visits of two virally suppressed Black sexual minority men. Public Health Nurs. 2022 01; 39(1):153-160.. View in PubMed
• Prevalence and predictors of recent temporary psychiatric hold among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 10 01; 227:108916.. View in PubMed
• Factors Associated with Likelihood of Initiating Others into Injection Drug Use Among People Who Inject Drugs in West Virginia. AIDS Behav. 2022 Jan; 26(1):47-56.. View in PubMed
• Factors associated with injury and blood-borne infection risk when providing assisted injection among people who inject drugs. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 11; 97:103297.. View in PubMed
• The naloxone delivery cascade: Identifying disparities in access to naloxone among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 08 01; 225:108759.. View in PubMed
• Characterizing symptoms of e-cigarette dependence: a qualitative study of young adults. BMC Public Health. 2021 05 20; 21(1):959.. View in PubMed
• Factors associated with methamphetamine withdrawal symptoms among people who inject drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 06 01; 223:108702.. View in PubMed
• A Community-Based Mindfulness Intervention Among Latino Adolescents and Their Parents: A Qualitative Feasibility and Acceptability Study. J Immigr Minor Health. 2021 Apr; 23(2):344-352.. View in PubMed
• Novel Routes of Potential Hepatitis C Virus Transmission among People Who Inject Drugs: Secondary Blood Exposures Related to Injection Drug Use. Subst Use Misuse. 2021; 56(6):751-757.. View in PubMed
• Ingenuity and resiliency of syringe service programs on the front lines of the opioid overdose and COVID-19 crises. Transl Res. 2021 08; 234:159-173.. View in PubMed
• Structural racism and violence as social determinants of health: Conceptual, methodological and intervention challenges. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 05 01; 222:108681.. View in PubMed
• Initial Efficacy of a Community-Derived Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Latinx Parents and their Children. J Immigr Minor Health. 2021 Oct; 23(5):993-1000.. View in PubMed
• Correlates of Transactional Sex and Violent Victimization among Men Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. J Urban Health. 2021 02; 98(1):70-82.. View in PubMed
• A positive deviance-based qualitative study of stress, coping, and feeding practices among low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children do versus do not meet guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake. Health Educ Res. 2020 12 23; 35(6):584-604.. View in PubMed
• Assisted injection provider practices and motivations in Los Angeles and San Francisco California 2016-18. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 06; 92:103052.. View in PubMed
• Factors associated with health-related cannabis use intentions among a community sample of people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA 2016 to 2018. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 02 01; 219:108421.. View in PubMed
• HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Prevention Awareness, Willingness, and Perceived Barriers among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA, 2016-2018. Subst Use Misuse. 2020; 55(14):2409-2419.. View in PubMed
• Self-perception of assisting with future injection drug initiation: The influence of relationships in the process of drug injecting initiation. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2021 01; 40(1):109-117.. View in PubMed
• Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Within Syringe Service Programs – United States, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Aug 21; 69(33):1117-1121.. View in PubMed
• Small Randomized Controlled Trial of the New Passport to Wellness HIV Prevention Intervention for Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (BMSM). AIDS Educ Prev. 2020 08; 32(4):311-324.. View in PubMed
• The emergence of innovative cannabis distribution projects in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, Canada. Int J Drug Policy. 2020 05; 79:102737.. View in PubMed
• Opioid withdrawal symptoms, frequency, and pain characteristics as correlates of health risk among people who inject drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 06 01; 211:107932.. View in PubMed
• Needle exchange effectiveness in the midst of multiple injection-related epidemics: commentary on Kåberg et al. Infect Dis (Lond). 2020 05; 52(5):347-349.. View in PubMed
• Reasons for assisting with injection initiation: Results from a large survey of people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 04 01; 209:107885.. View in PubMed