Substance Drug Checking

Monthly Reports

April 2022 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our April 2022 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in seven expected opioid-down samples, with a maximum concentration of 2.95% * 93% of expected opioid-down

Monthly Reports

March 2022 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our March 2022 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in one expected opioid-down sample * 96% of expected opioid-down samples contained fentanyl * The median fentanyl concentration

Monthly Reports

February 2022 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our February 2022 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in four samples, all expected opioid-down * The maximum concentration of carfentanil found was 0.95%, the

Monthly Reports

January 2022 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our January 2022 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in three samples, all expected opioid-down * 97% of expected opioid-down samples contained fentanyl * The median fentanyl

Monthly Reports

December 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our December 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in four samples, all expected opioid-down * 85% of expected opioid-down samples contained fentanyl * The median fentanyl

Benzodiazepines: an emergent trend

In a highly unpredictable and unregulated drug supply, the emergence of benzodiazepines in the illicit opioid supply continues to complicate an already crisis-level situation in British Columbia. Now, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) and the Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (CCENDU) have released a

Monthly Reports

November 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our November 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil was found in three samples, all expected opioid-down * 96% of expected opioid-down samples contained fentanyl * Median fentanyl concentration

Still not a bad batch: Responding to the Coroners Numbers Ad Infinitum

Every month, year after year, the British Columbia Coroners Service releases the numbers of illicit drug-related deaths in the province and every month they are grim. The month of November, like the month before it and the month before that, is another month of witnessing the horrific impacts of a

Monthly Reports

October 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our October 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * No carfentanil was seen in the month of October * 94% of expected opioid-down samples contained fentanyl * Median fentanyl concentration

Monthly Reports

September 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our September 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil found in seven samples, six expected to be opioid-down and one unknown * 95% of expected opioid-down samples contained

Monthly Reports

August 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our August 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil found in nine samples; eight expected to be opioid-down, one was unknown. * Overall median fentanyl concentration of 8.

Monthly Reports

July 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our July 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil found in four samples expected to be opioid-down. * Overall median fentanyl concentration of 7.1%, with a maximum

A Review on Victoria's Drug Supply

Our project members, Jarred Aasen and Ash Larnder, presented on our findings from Nov. 2020 - May 2021 to share recent drug data and trends we are seeing in the Victoria drug supply. "We often receive a lot of questions about how the illicit supply relates to client use

Monthly Reports

June 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our June 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Carfentanil found in two samples expected to be opioid-down or unknown. * Overall median fentanyl concentration of 7.7%, with

How can community drug checking function as a harm reduction intervention in response to the health and social harms resulting from the criminalization of substances?

A new article from Bruce Wallace, Thea van Roode, Flora Pagan, Dennis Hore and Bernie Pauly surrounding the Vancouver Island Drug Checking Project looks at the ways in which prospective service users view the role of community drug checking as a harm reduction intervention. Adopting a socioecological model, the authors

Monthly Reports

May 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our May 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Fentanyl analogues found in 10 samples expected to be opioid-down or unknown, including carfentanil (8) and fluorofentanyl (2) * Overall

Monthly Reports

April 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our April 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * Fentanyl analogues found in 24% of opioid-down samples (13/54), including fluorofentanyl (7), carfentanil (5), chloroisobutyryl fentanyl (1). * Median

Fentanyl Screening Is Not Drug Checking

Drug advisories that lack nuance and context, like the ones put out by Public Health, only serve to remind us of all the things governments could be doing but aren’t.

Monthly Reports

March 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our March 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. The PDF report can be found at the end. We would also like to announce that this month we moved to our new store-front location! Key findings: * Carfentanil found in

Monthly Reports

February 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our February 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. We are excited to present additional reporting of fentanyl, etizolam, heroin, and carfentanil concentrations through our collaboration with Dr. Chris Gill and the team at Vancouver Island University. The PDF

Benzodiazepines, Etizolam and the Test Strips

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions lately about the use of benzodiazepine test strips at our service ... and no wonder, our January Report [https://substance.uvic.ca/blog/january-2021-monthly-report/] shows that benzodiazepines and related drugs were detected in 50% of opioid down samples last month. Here we will

Monthly Reports

January 2021 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our January 2021 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. We are excited to announce the additional reporting of fentanyl, etizolam, heroin, and carfentanil concentrations through our collaboration with Dr. Chris Gill and his team at Vancouver Island University. The

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Not just a bad batch: a stable supply is a safer supply

We continue to grieve alongside all those who have been impacted by the ongoing emergency that is the overdose crisis. The tremendous loss that continues to impact our communities is carried with us as we draw attention to the conclusions laid out in this post. The BC Coroners report on

Monthly Reports

December 2020 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our December 2020 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. We are also excited to announce the additional reporting of fentanyl concentrations through our collaboration with Dr. Chris Gill and his team at Vancouver Island University. The PDF report can

Monthly Reports

November 2020 Monthly Report

In this blog post we discuss our November 2020 report and provide more information on how to interpret the results. We are also excited to announce our collaboration with Vancouver Island University and their paper spray mass spectrometer. The PDF report can be found at the end. Key findings: * 20%