This is a pilot project and the technology has limitations.

We can't tell you if something is safe or unsafe for you to use.

What we can usually tell you about a sample

• The main active ingredient
• Contaminants (such as other unexpected drugs)
• Inert 'cutting agents' or 'buffs' used as a filler
• Approximate amount of the active ingredient compared to other ingredients
• Fentanyl or fentanyl analogues, even in trace amounts (using fentanyl strips)

What we can't tell you about a sample

• If it's “pure”
• The exact percentages of different ingredients in the mixture
• If there's something in the mixture that we don't have in our reference database
• We may not be able to detect all substances present - some potent substances can be toxic at low levels

Access to the service is free, voluntary and confidential. We need a small sample (which we only use after we get your permission). You get most of this back, except for about a grain of rice). Testing takes about 20 minutes.

When you come in, we'll go over the limitations of drug checking. We'll ask you a few questions about the substance you brought in so we can provide you with better results and information, and as part of our research – you can skip any of the questions. Because the service is part of a research project, we'll go over how and why we would use the information you share, so you can make an informed decision about how you want to participate.

What to expect

Next, we'll ask for a small sample and start to run our tests. You'll get most of it back, except for about a grain of rice. Testing takes about 20 minutes. While you're waiting for results, you can participate in an optional survey that asks about you, the substances you brought, and your thoughts on drug checking.

After we've had a chance to run tests and interpret results, we'll go over results together, such as: main active ingredient(s); contaminants (such as unexpected drugs); inert cutting agents; approximate amounts of the active compared to other ingredients; the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl analogies. We also offer harm reduction supplies and information, if needed.

• Provide service users with further information about the composition of illicit substances than that currently available in the context of prohibition;
• Determine the utility of a variety of drug checking instruments across different settings;
• Offer drug checking reports via project website and other formats to inform service users and the general public of test results and aggregate data;
• Effectively integrate drug checking services within harm reduction and health services, contributing to reduced illicit drug overdose events and fatalities;
• Reduce stigma and criminalization for people who use drugs and improve health outcomes.

To meet our goals, we're offering a drug checking service at a few sites in Victoria while measuring its impacts through surveys and interviews with service users, while testing different drug checking instruments by effectiveness, acceptability, efficiency, accessibility, and appropriateness. We're also building an online database to link the chemical information each instrument detects with analytical and visualization tools to report on and project trends, reporting updates via our project website, while offering instrument data for analysis by citizen scientists.

Surveys and interviews aim to learn more about developing services across social location, with attention to processes and impacts of current drug policy and systemic oppression, asking questions about whether existing services meet user expectations, harm reduction practices in the overdose crisis, and how services should be offered.

Project staff work from diverse backgrounds including social work, chemistry and computer science, housed at the University of Victoria and hosted at services across Victoria. Together with project partners (including people who use drugs, local harm reduction services, the health authority, the provincial government, and instrument developers), over the next few years the project will develop services beyond Victoria, with suburban and rural communities throughout Vancouver Island; develop strategies to more permanently integrate drug checking into harm reduction services; and collaborate with drug checking projects across Canada to develop best practices.

Funded by grants from Health Canada and the Vancouver Foundation, project partners include the B.C. Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, Island Health, harm reduction services (STS Pharmacy, AVI, SOLID Outreach Services), industry (Perkin Elmer, Cobalt, ProSpect Scientific, IBM). Ethical review for this project was provided by the Health Research Ethics Board at Island Health (HREB).