Drug testing machine to be piloted in Vancouver as overdose crisis continues

A drug-checking device that'sthe first of its kind in Canadais going to be tested in Vancouver the epicentre of the province's unprecedented overdose crisis to help prevent more deaths.

B.C. Addictions Minister Judy Darcy and Vancouver MayorGregorRobertson announced that the new, portable machine will be piloted at the city's supervisedinjection sites, Insite and Powell Street Getaway,several days a week.

The device, called a Fourier-TransformInfraredSpectrometer (FTIR), allows peopleto anonymously submit samples of street drugs to be testedforopioids, stimulants and other drugs likeMDMA.A statement from the province said the machine can detect multiple substances at oncewithin minutes.

"Lives can be saved this way," said Robertson. "Harm reduction has saved lives; it's critical."

Darcy also announced that the ministry is expanding the use offentanyltest strips to all supervised injection sites in the province. Previously, the free testing hadonly been available in Vancouver.

"Tackling this overdose crisis takes a whole province it will take an entire province to turn this around," the minister said Friday.

The announcements comeone day after the province saidmore than 1,100 people have died ofsuspected illicit drug overdoses so far this year.

The B.C. Coroners Servicesays there were 80 suspected illicit overdose deaths in the province in September up 31 per cent from the same month last year.

That brought the total for the year to 1,103, surpassingthe 982 inall of 2016. Vancouver sees the highest number of overdoses in the province, followed by the cities of Surrey and Victoria.

Fentanylwas detected in 83 per cent of this year's deaths, representing an increase of 147 per cent from the same time period last year. The potent opioidwas most often laced in heroin, cocaine ormethamphetamines.

'Knowledge is power'

Dean Wilson, a peer representative with the B.C. Centre on Substance Abuse, said the machine could be a lifesaver.

"Knowledge is power. The fact that we're going to be able to figure out what's actually going into our bodies is huge. Without a doubt, it's going to save lives," he said.

"I originally asked for drug testing in 2001, but nobody's had the balls to do it until now, so I thank you," Wilsonadded,turning to the minister and the mayor.

Darcy also said her ministry is looking at"ramping up" an anti-stigma campaign.

"Nine out of 10 people who are dying are using at home alone," she told reporters on Thursday.

"That's about overcoming stigma, that's about everybody in a family, in a community, friends reaching out and having conversations with people and reducing the stigma.''

The FTIR machine will be available atInsiteon Mondays and Tuesdays from 2-8 p.m. It will beat the Powell StreetGetaway on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fentanylstrip testing was launched as a pilot project in Vancouver inJuly 2016. More than 1,400 checks were done within the first year of operation 80 per cent of which came back positive for fentanyl.

A statement said Insite clients who got a positive resultwere 10 times more likely to reduce their dose. Those who did sowere25 per centless likely to overdose.