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

Key Findings

• In June, a total of 565 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region, the highest number of checks recorded in the region to date. This increase is primarily due to psychedelic samples tested at the Wicked Woods Music Festival in Fairmont Hot Springs.
•  The percentage of all opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines by FTIR and test strip decreased from 88.8% to 80.0% in June(140 of 175 samples)
• Benzodiazepines were found in concentrations high enough to be detected by FTIR in 15.0% of unregulated opioid samples checked (25 of 167 samples), with bromazolam most frequently detected (23 samples).
• Fluorofentanyl detection surpassed fentanyl detection for the first time in June (99 vs. 35 unregulated opioid samples).
• Drug checking is available in several communities across the Interior Health region. As of June, the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy has commenced services in Vernon at #100-3605 31st Street.

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

In August, a total of 336 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region. The number of psychedelic samples checked dropped significantly following the summer festival season.

The percentage of all opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines by FTIR and test strip was 72.8% in August (99 of 136samples), a slight decline from the previous months.

Benzodiazepines were found in concentrations high enough to be detected by FTIR in 18.5% of unregulated opioid samples checked (25 of 135 samples), with bromazolam most frequently detected (24 samples).

Fluorofentanyl was detected in 20.0% of unregulated samples (27 of 135 samples), whereas fentanyl was detected in 51.1% (69 samples).

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

• In June, a total of 565 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region, the highest number of checks recorded in the region to date. This increase is primarily due to psychedelic samples tested at the Wicked Woods Music Festival in Fairmont Hot Springs.
•  The percentage of all opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines by FTIR and test strip decreased from 88.8% to 80.0% in June(140 of 175 samples)
• Benzodiazepines were found in concentrations high enough to be detected by FTIR in 15.0% of unregulated opioid samples checked (25 of 167 samples), with bromazolam most frequently detected (23 samples).
• Fluorofentanyl detection surpassed fentanyl detection for the first time in June (99 vs. 35 unregulated opioid samples).
• Drug checking is available in several communities across the Interior Health region. As of June, the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy has commenced services in Vernon at #100-3605 31st Street.

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

• In May, a total of 286 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
• The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines increased from 73.6% to 88.8% in May (142 of 160 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due to the large geographic region.
• Four drug alerts were issued by Interior Health, three pertaining to down samples that contained high concentrations of fentanyl and bromazolam. One alert concerned a methamphetamine sample that instead tested as fentanyl.

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

• In April, a total of 271 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
• The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines increased from 71.6% to 73.6% in April (81 of 110 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
• Two drug alerts were issued by Interior Health. Both pertained to down samples that contained high concentrations of fentanyl and bromazolam. One of these also contained a high concentration of xylazine.

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

• In March, a total of 351 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 83.1% to 71.6% in March (126 of 176 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
• Three drug alerts were issued by Interior Health. One pertained to a sample that had been sold as crack cocaine, but instead contained high concentrations of fentanyl, bromazolam, and xylazine..

Find the full report here.

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

Key Findings

• In February, a total of 283 drug checks were performed by services offering FTIR drug checking in the Interior Health region.
• The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines increased from 67.2% to 83.1% in February (118 of 142 samples). Trends may be hard to infer due the large geographic region.
• Four drug alerts were issued by Interior Health. Most pertained to multiple down samples in which high concentrations of fentanyl, or where para-fluorofentanyl was detected. In one of these samples, benzodiazepines were detected via test strip, and in another, xylazine was present in a high enough concentration to be detected by FTIR.

Find the full report here.

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.

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.

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.