A new research project from Interior Health will study the feasibility of take home drug checking kits for people who use illicit drugs.
The program will help determine if these kits can be effectively used outside of a health care facility without staff oversight.
Over the last year, people have been able to come in and get their drugs checked before they go their own way. They’ll now be taught how to do that test on their own.
“We recognize that people still are using alone and that continues to be one of the main risk factors for an overdose death is alone,” said Harm Reduction Coordinator Jessica Bridgeman.
“And so this was an opportunity to see if we could expand this. Not everybody wants to come in and get their drugs tested in front of somebody or with somebody. They may want to keep that still very private.”
The program will be rolled out in Cranbrook, Nelson, Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton, along with Kamloops and Merritt, where people can pick up fentanyl test strips at the ASK Wellness Society.
Bridgeman says the message they want to get out there is always one around safety, pointing out that the strips will only detect fentanyl, and not carfentanil.
Irrespective of whether the tests results are positive or negative for fentanyl, Bridgeman says they want to ensure that people who are using drugs know as much as possible about the substance they are using.
“Once that study is concluded, we’re looking to sort of compare the results of the way that the test strips have been going over the last year on site with the result of the home checking to evaluate the positivity rates and make sure that people are using the tests at home the same way they would be if they were working with a drug checking technician.”
The pilot project, she pointed out, is similar to the take home naloxone program, and it will run for about three months.
“Hopefully what we learn from this research study will be able to guide us in the next steps of expanding this across the province, and for others to participate outside of these agencies right now.”
