Vancouver Pride celebration to offer anonymous drug checks

For the first time, those planning to use street drugs at Vancouver's Pride celebration can anonymously screen them for dangerous substances like fentanyl.

As Pride weekend kicks off Friday evening, a drug checking machine called a spectrometer will be available to the publicbetween 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.at theHealth Initiative for Men clinic onDavie Street.

The spectrometer will test a range of substancesincludingopioids, stimulantsand other psychoactive drugs such asMDMA.

Using only a small sample,the machine analyzes the chemical composition of a drug andwithin a few minutes atechnician willbe able to tell users if their substances contain toxic adulterants such asfentanyl.

Tests are anonymous

The tests will be fully anonymousand drug users will not be asked to give any identifying information, saidLenTooley, research and evaluation managerat the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men's Health.

"We've notified theVancouver Police Department about it, and they've given the go-ahead, so we've done everything we can to ensure that it's a safe spacewhere people can confidentially get their drugs tested and have a safe and happy Pride."

Tooley said HIM will also be offering naloxonekits and fentanyl testing strips on Friday night.

Potentially life-saving information

AVCHdrug checking study released in May, 2018, showed that over a six-month periodonly 39 per cent of the drugs tested contained the substance the user was expecting. Foropioidstested, that number dropped to 19 per cent.

Eighty-eight per cent ofopioidsscreened tested positive forfentanyl.

The spectrometer is used three days a weekat Insite, a VCHsupervised injection siteand was rolled out for festival use during the 2018 season as a way to make potentially life-saving information more widely available, said Tiffany Atkins of VCH.

Drug users at the Electric Love festival in July were thefirst in B.C. to take advantage of the service and Atkinssaid no fentanyl was detected during those tests.

A matter of equity

Providing drug safety checks at Pride is a matter of equityaccording to Tooley.

"There is an an goingfentanylpoisoning crisisand overdosecrisisin B.C., and the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use and Vancouver Coastal Health, they have been offering drug checking atfestivals throughout the province, so we wanted to make surethat service was available to the queer andtranscommunity."

Drug checking will also be offered at the Shambhala Music Festival on Aug.10.