@article {Burns245, author = {Andrew Burns and Kat Albrecht}, title = {Localized Syndemic Assemblages: COVID-19, Substance Use Disorder, and Overdose Risk in Small-Town America}, volume = {8}, number = {8}, pages = {245--262}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.7758/RSF.2022.8.8.11}, publisher = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences}, abstract = {Pandemics do not exist in isolation and COVID-19 is no exception. We argue that existing health crises, notably substance use disorder (SUD), developed syndemic relationships with COVID-19 that produced compounding deleterious effects. Combining Merrill Singer{\textquoteright}s theory of syndemics and assemblage theory, we analyze the combinatory impact of overdose and COVID-19 within a localized context. We focus on Sandusky, Ohio, where we combine police reports, in-depth interviews with area residents, and ethnographic data to compare conditions before and after the emergence of COVID-19. We find dramatic shifts in relevant local contexts due to COVID-19, inhibiting existing systems of law and public policy aimed at overdose prevention and SUD treatment. Further, our findings provide evidence of complications in the COVID-19 response originating from the overdose epidemic.}, issn = {2377-8253}, URL = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/8/245}, eprint = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/8/245.full.pdf}, journal = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences} }