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Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – January 2023 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the January 2023 report from samples collected by Drug Checking Sites across the Interior Health region.

Key Findings

  • In January, a total of 276 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
  • The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines decreased from 82.5% to 67.2% in January (80 of 119 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
  • Interior Health issued two drug alerts concerning down samples containing high concentrations of fentanyl/para-fluorofentanyl with benzodiazepines present. In one of these samples, the concentration of bromazolam was high enough to be detected by FTIR.

Find the full report here.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – December 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the December 2022 report from samples collected by Drug Checking Sites across the Interior Health region.

Key Findings

  • In December, a total of 252 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
  • The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines in the region increased from 65.5% to 82.5% in December (99 of 120 samples), the highest level recorded in the region to date. Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
  • Bromazolam was the most frequent benzodiazepine identified in opioid samples this month, indicating concentrations high enough to be detectable by FTIR. Bromazolam was found present in 4 opioid samples.

Find the full report here.

Penticton Drug Alert

Posted on by Antoine

Penticton Drug Alert

Multiple samples of DOWN with higher than average amount of fentanyl have been identified in Penticton.

Sold as Down, Fentanyl – Grey Pebbles

Contains:

  • Higher to much higher than average concentration of fentanyl and fentanyl analogue.

Risk:

High risk of overdose, High risk of fatal overdose.

Using in the cold can increase risk of overdose.

Smoking is NOT safer than injecting. Take care when smoking drugs by using a little at a time and waiting a few minutes, as some effects can take longer to appear.

Overdose response:

Naloxone does not work on Benzos, BUT naloxone will work on the opioid overdose symptoms.  After giving breaths and naloxone, the person may begin breathing normally, but may not wake up. More doses of naloxone should only be given if the person is not breathing normally (less than 10 breaths a minute). If the person is breathing normally but remains unconscious, place in recovery position and stay with them until emergency services arrive.

No matter what or how you use (oral, smoking, snorting, injecting) take steps to prevent overdose

  • Know the risks when mixing drugs
  • If you must use while alone, consider using the Lifeguard app which can connect you with 911 emergency responders if you overdose. Download at the App Store or Google Play.   
  • When using your substance start with a small amount, and then go slow.
  • Use with others or at an Overdose Prevention or Supervised Consumption Site, if one is near you.
  • Know how to respond to an overdose – call 911, give rescue breaths and naloxone.

Here is a link to download a printable version of this poster.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – November 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the November 2022 report from samples collected by Drug Checking Sites across the Interior Health region.

Key Findings

• In November, a total of 318 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
• The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines in the region remained high at 65.5% (112 of 171 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region, and the true rate may be higher than reported here because benzodiazepines, and benzodiazepine-like substances like etizolam, may be missed by drug checking technologies.
• Bromazolam was the most frequent benzodiazepine detected by FTIR, found present in 4 opioid samples

Find the full report here.

Nelson Drug Alert

Posted on by Antoine

Nelson Drug Alert

DOWN with high concentration of fentanyl, fentanyl analogue and benzodiazepine.

Sold as Down, Fentanyl – Yellow and Green Chunks and Pebbles

Contains:

  • High concentration of fentanyl and and fentanyl analogue. Higher than average concentration.

    Positive for benzodiazepines

Risk:

High risk of overdose, High risk of fatal overdose.

Mixing with alcohol can be especially dangerous.

Focus on breathing if naloxone appears to not resolve overdose symptoms.

Using in the cold increases chances of overdose.

Smoking is NOT safer than injecting. Take care when smoking drugs by using a little at a time and waiting a few minutes, as some effects can take longer to appear.

Overdose response:

Naloxone does not work on Benzos, BUT naloxone will work on the opioid overdose symptoms.  After giving breaths and naloxone, the person may begin breathing normally, but may not wake up. More doses of naloxone should only be given if the person is not breathing normally (less than 10 breaths a minute). If the person is breathing normally but remains unconscious, place in recovery position and stay with them until emergency services arrive.

No matter what or how you use (oral, smoking, snorting, injecting) take steps to prevent overdose

  • Know the risks when mixing drugs
  • If you must use while alone, consider using the Lifeguard app which can connect you with 911 emergency responders if you overdose. Download at the App Store or Google Play.   
  • When using your substance start with a small amount, and then go slow.
  • Use with others or at an Overdose Prevention or Supervised Consumption Site, if one is near you.
  • Know how to respond to an overdose – call 911, give rescue breaths and naloxone.

Here is a link to download a printable version of this poster.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – October 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the October 2022 report from samples collected by Drug Checking Sites across the Interior Health region.

Key Findings

  • The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines in the region increased from 50.0% to 65.1% in October (82 of 126 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region, and the true rate may be higher than reported here because benzodiazepines, and benzodiazepine-like substances like etizolam, may be missed by drug checking technologies.
  •  Etizolam was the most frequent benzodiazepine detected by FTIR, found present in 3 opioid samples. This indicates samples had concentrations of etizolam above 5%, high enough to be detectable by FTIR.
  •  An increase in the number of opioid samples tested was observed in October, while the number of samples tested in all other drug categories either declined, or remained consistent.

Find the full report here.

Cranbrook Drug Alert

Posted on by Antoine

Cranbrook Drug Alert

Multiple samples of DOWN with higher than average amount of fentanyl have been identified Cranbrook.

Sold as Down, Fentanyl – Red/Orange Chunks

Contains:

  • Higher to much higher than average concentration of fentanyl, analogue or both. 
  • Benzodiazepines.

Risk:

High risk of overdose, High risk of fatal overdose.

Using in the cold can increase risk of overdose.

Mixing with alcohol can be especially dangerous.

Smoking is NOT safer than injecting. Take care when smoking drugs by using a little at a time and waiting a few minutes, as some effects can take longer to appear.

Overdose response:

Naloxone does not work on Benzos, BUT naloxone will work on the opioid overdose symptoms.  After giving breaths and naloxone, the person may begin breathing normally, but may not wake up. More doses of naloxone should only be given if the person is not breathing normally (less than 10 breaths a minute). If the person is breathing normally but remains unconscious, place in recovery position and stay with them until emergency services arrive.

No matter what or how you use (oral, smoking, snorting, injecting) take steps to prevent overdose

  • Know the risks when mixing drugs
  • If you must use while alone, consider using the Lifeguard app which can connect you with 911 emergency responders if you overdose. Download at the App Store or Google Play.   
  • When using your substance start with a small amount, and then go slow.
  • Use with others or at an Overdose Prevention or Supervised Consumption Site, if one is near you.
  • Know how to respond to an overdose – call 911, give rescue breaths and naloxone.

Here is a link to download a printable version of this poster.

Kelowna and Vernon Drug Alert

Posted on by Antoine

Kelowna and Vernon Drug Alert

Multiple samples of DOWN with high concentration of benzodiazepine and fentanyl have been identified in Kelowna and Vernon

Sold as Down, Fentanyl White / Light Pink Powder.

Contains:

  • High concentration of fentanyl. Higher than average.
  • Very high concentration of bromazolam (10-20%) , a strong benzodiazepine. 

Risk:

High risk of overdose, High risk of fatal overdose.

Mixing with alcohol can be especially dangerous.

Focus on breathing if naloxone appears to not resolve overdose symptoms.

Overdose response:

Naloxone does not work on Benzos, BUT naloxone will work on the opioid overdose symptoms.  After giving breaths and naloxone, the person may begin breathing normally, but may not wake up. More doses of naloxone should only be given if the person is not breathing normally (less than 10 breaths a minute). If the person is breathing normally but remains unconscious, place in recovery position and stay with them until emergency services arrive.

No matter what or how you use (oral, smoking, snorting, injecting) take steps to prevent overdose

  • Know the risks when mixing drugs
  • If you must use while alone, consider using the Lifeguard app which can connect you with 911 emergency responders if you overdose. Download at the App Store or Google Play.   
  • When using your substance start with a small amount, and then go slow.
  • Use with others or at an Overdose Prevention or Supervised Consumption Site, if one is near you.
  • Know how to respond to an overdose – call 911, give rescue breaths and naloxone.

Here is a link to download a printable version of this poster.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – September 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the September 2022 report from samples collected by Drug Checking Sites across the Interior Health region.

Key Findings

  • There was an increase in total drug checks in Interior during September, due mostly to drug checking services provided
    at a small festival where 210 samples were tested. A separate report on larger festivals in the region will be published
    later in the fall.
    • The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines in the region decreased from 67.9% to 50.0% in
    September (54 of 108 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region, and the true rate may be
    higher than reported here benzodiazepines, and benzodiazepine-like substances like etizolam, may be missed by drug
    checking technologies.
    • Etizolam was the most frequent benzodiazepine detected by FTIR in the month of September, found present in 4
    opioid samples.

Find the full report here.