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.

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.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the August 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 this month, due mostly to drug checking services provided at a
  festival that occurred in the region, where 89 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 increased from 61.6%, to 67.9% in August (57 of
  84 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region, and the true rate may be higher than reported here
  as etizolam, a benzodiazepine-like substance, may be missed by drug checking technologies.
• Etizolam was the most frequent benzodiazepine detected by FTIR in the month of August, found present in 4 opioid samples.
• One alert was issued regarding a down sample that contained a high concentration of fentanyl and benzodiazepines
  (bromazolam and flubromazepam).

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the July 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 decreased from 72.0% to 61.6% (45 of 73
  samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region, and the true rate may be higher than reported here
  as etizolam, a benzodiazepine-like substance, may be missed by drug checking technologies.
• One alert was issued about fentanyl being sold as cocaine.
•  The overall decrease in drugs checked during July may be in part due to the diversion of some services to music
  festivals that occurred within the region

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the June 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 remained high (72.0%, 108 of
  150 samples), but trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region. Etizolam, the predominant
  benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking technologies. This means that the true
  rate may be higher than reported here.
  • The fentanyl analogue para-fluorofentanyl is appearing in down more frequently. Para-fluorofentanyl is believed
  to be less potent that fentanyl and is accurately detected with fentanyl test strips

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the May 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 remained high (64.9%, 113 of 174 samples), but trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region. Etizolam, the predominant benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking technologies. This means that the true rate may be higher than reported here.

• The fentanyl analogue para-fluorofentanyl is appearing in down more frequently. Para-fluorofentanyl is believed to be less potent that fentanyl and is accurately detected with fentanyl test strips.
• Drug checking is available in many different communities in the Interior Health region. For updated times and locations, visit our Interior Health’s drug checking website.

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the April 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 remained high
(71.1%, 54 of 76 samples), but trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
Etizolam, the predominant benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking
technologies. This means that the true rate may be higher than reported here.

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the March 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 remained high (67.4%,
99 of 147 samples), but trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region. Etizolam, the
predominant benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking technologies.
This means that the true rate may be higher than reported here.

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the February 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 fell slightly (68.5%, 61 of 89
samples) from last month, but trends may be hard to infer due to the small number of samples over a large
region. Etizolam, the predominant benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking
technologies. This means that the true rate may be higher than reported here.

2 samples of crack cocaine, 1 sample of methamphetamine, and 1 sample of flualprazolam tested positive for
fentanyl this month.

Drug checking is available in many different communities in the Interior Health region. For updated times and
locations, visit our website.

Find the full report here.

The BCCSU publishes Provincial and regional monthly reports that summarize drug checking results. Here is the December 2021 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 fell slightly (64%, 27 of 42
samples) from last month, but trends may be hard to infer due to the small number of samples over a large
region. Etizolam, the predominant benzodiazepine in expected opioids, may be missed by drug checking
technologies. This means that the true rate may be higher than reported here.

1 sample of cocaine tested positive for fentanyl and an alert was issued.

Find the full report here.