Drug testing technology may prevent overdose deaths, advocates hope

A supervised injection site in Ottawa will be the first facility of its kind in Canada to use state-of-the-art technology to check street drugs for fentanyl, a safeguard experts say could save lives.

Staff at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre (SHCHC) can now use aportable mass spectrometer a machine thatcan fit atop a desk to scan trace amounts of drugs before clients use them.The $160,000 machine can accurately detectpotentially deadly chemicals within seconds.

Harm reduction advocates say the technology is a potential game changer in their struggle to get theopioidcrisis under control.

"The useof unregulated drugs ofunknowncontent, quality and effect is driving the unacceptable levels of overdose related deaths and non fatal overdose effects," saidLynne Leonard, an epidemiology professor at theUniversity of Ottawa.

Bad drug warnings

Being able to detect dangerous contents will allow health officials to issue "bad drug warnings" and prevent more deaths, Leonard said.

It'spart of a three-year pilot projectinvolving researchers at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in partnership with the SHCHC.The project is being funded through ahalf-million dollar grant from thefederal government.

Researchers are also hoping to discover whether users will change their behaviour once they find outwhat's in their drugs. They will log the results from each test and trace results over time.

Health Canada's latest figures suggest the number ofopioid-related deaths each year in Canadahas nowsurpassed 4,000.

Drug checks optional

Rob Boyd,director of harm reduction services at SHCHC, saidthe mass spectrometerdrug testwon't bemandatory for clients.

"People can bereluctant to give up a sample of their product. Even with very, very tiny amounts that we'll take," Boyd said.

Clients will be asked whether they want the test performed. If they agree and fentanylis detected, it will be up to them whether they want to go ahead and consume the drugs, Boyd said.

"It's a relationship of mutual trust and it respects the autonomy of people to make choices about their own health," he said.

Boyd said staff will continue to intervene withnaloxoneif an overdose occurs.

State-of-the-art technology

The testinvolves dipping a thin metal stick into a drug sample, then placing it into a port in the machine. The spectrometer identifies different compounds by theirmolecular mass. Results are available within 20 seconds.

Before acquiring the machine, following an overdose, the SHCHCwould send the client's needleto Health Canada's drug analysis laboratory to find out what was in it. It was a process that tookmonths.

"We can detect novel substances, things that we don't even know are out there we can see it. The unregulated [drug] market produces newchemicalsall the time. So hopefullywe can get ahead of the curve," said Carleton professor Jeffrey Smith, who'sin charge of training workersto use the spectrometer.

Reactionfrom the street

Starr, who said she's 38 but didn't want to give her last name, saidshe's been addicted to heroinfor nearly 15 years and visits a supervised injection site at least five times a day.

She saidshe's been "traumatized" by the deaths of friends who overdosed.

When shown a video by CBCdemonstratinghow the spectrometer works, Starr got excited and askedwhere she could get her drugs checked.

"[This]will probably stop me from overdosing, and other people from overdosing," she said.

But asked whether a positive test result would cause her to throw away her drugs, she hesitated.

"I wouldn't use,unless I was severely dope sick," she said.