Tag: Interior Health

New Normal – Drug Checking at Festivals

Posted on by Antoine

New Normal

Harm reduction in a post-pandemic festive context

Festivals, gatherings, parties.

After a two year hiatus, we are preparing to gather in thousands under the love of music, friendship, dancing, arts and whatever your jam is. The Interior Health region usually hosts an incredible variety of events and this year is no exception. But what has changed?

Festivals are an experimental ground for a population that converges from all walks of life. Some are seasoned lifers that live and breathe the music and culture, while some may be first timers, curious and eager to have fun on a summer weekend. All will be looking forward to a feeling of connection, new experiences and hedonistic opportunities, long awaited since the start of the pandemic. Many will choose to transform their experience through the use of drugs, from well known alcohol to, new for some, illicit substances.

The pandemic created a situation where there has been significant transformations in the drug supply, witnessed through drugs checked by community drug checking endeavors. These changes have been tragic for all of us, with consequences ranging from drug related health complications to higher death rates than ever.

As well as the drug supply issues, there will also be newcomers to the scene, with perhaps less knowledge about the drugs that they are curious to experiment with. Keen partiers may also feel the urge to partake in substance use more than usual, as the burgeoning excitement of being back together intensifies.

This year, Interior Health is contributing to Drug Checking efforts in festive situations. In partnership with community organizations, there will be FTIR and test strip drug checking services offered at both Bass Coast and Shambhala Music festival, events that gather approximately 5000 and 16000 people respectively. Some smaller events are serviced by their local harm reduction related agencies. Not only do these services enable people who use drugs to make informed choices about their use, they also allow an incredible opportunity to engage in a conversation around drugs, providing education in the scope of harm reduction.

Drug checking services at festivals allow us to monitor what is circulating in the ever changing supply and act upon it. Extra vigilance will be paramount for this summer’s festivals. After a 2 year interruption, the only thing that we can say for sure is that risk and inconsistency are unquestionably the “new normal” within the illicit drug supply.

If you plan to use substances this year, consider using one of the drug checking services spread across the IHA region. Find out where is the closest to you at drugchecking.ca

Link to pdf poster : New Normal – What is in your drugs

 

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – May 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Antoine

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.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – April 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Lesley Coates

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.

Nelson Drug Alert

Posted on by Lesley Coates

Interior Health – Nelson

Meth in Nelson has been found to also contain fentanyl and benzos.

Sold as Meth, Side, Methamphetamine. Test your meth for presence of fentanyl!

Risk:

Risk of overdose with severe complications including death.

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 – March 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Lesley Coates

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.

Penticton Drug Alert

Posted on by Lesley Coates

Interior Health – Penticton

Drug samples in Penticton have been found to contain a higher than average amount of fentanyl and benzodiazepines. In this case, Etizolam was the benzo detected.

The samples have been sold as “down” or fentanyl –  usually in a darker purple chunky texture.

Risk:

High risk of overdose with severe complications including death.  Substances containing benzodiazepine can cause prolonged sedation (several hours).

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 (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 – February 2022 – BCCSU

Posted on by Lesley Coates

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.

Interior Health Wide Drug Alert

Posted on by Lesley Coates

All communities of Interior Health

Multiple drug samples in communities across the region have been found to contain Up to 55% fentanyl (Average is +/- 10%).

Up to 25%  of benzodiazepine (Average is +/- 1 to 2%) has also been detected in some samples.

The samples have been sold as “down”, heroin, or fentanyl – a wide range of colours and textures have been identified.

Risk:

High risk of overdose with severe complications including death.  Substances containing benzodiazepine can cause prolonged sedation (several hours).

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 (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 – December 2021 – BCCSU

Posted on by Lesley Coates

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.

Drug Checking Report for Interior Health – September 2021 – BCCSU

Posted on by Lesley Coates

Key findings:

The percentage of opioids testing positive for benzodiazepines in the region (41%, 19 of 46 samples) increased 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.

Fentanyl was detected in 3 stimulant samples. While these results are concerning, two of the findings can be explained by cross-contamination after purchase.

Read the full report.