Coinciding with surges in fatal overdoses, the illicit drug supply has gotten increasingly unpredictable. Despite the unpredictability and accompanying danger, people who use drugs care about their health. Real time, harm reduction-based drug checking is one service that can shed some light on the actual contents of the illicit drug supply, thus allowing for informed consumers to devise tailored safety planning. If we better understand the composition of the street drug market and improve real-time information access among people who use drugs, we can contribute to efforts to prevent overdose deaths.

Fentanyl testing strips can be combined with additional technologies such as Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), high pressure mass spectrometers (HPMS), gas or liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS & LC-MS) to give a more thorough description of illicit drugs. Nonetheless, there are many considerations and decisions when beginning an advanced technology drug checking service.

In this 90 minute webinar, we will discuss pros and cons of different technologies, price considerations, technician orientation and training, communicating results to participants, decision-making about alerts, and lessons learned from several drug checking services in the US.

Presenters:
Maya Doe-Simkins- Alliance for Collaborative Drug Checking (ACDC) & Remedy Alliance
Rae Elkasabany- ACDC & DanceSafe
Yarelix Estrada- New York City Department of Health
Sarah Mackin- AHOPE Harm Reduction Services