Integrating a low-barrier drug checking platform into public health responses to overdose

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Measures to ensure a safer drug supply are an essential component of reducing overdosedeaths. Fentanyl test strips are fast, sensitive, and cheap, but cannot provide any informationon potency, purity, or the existence of other harmful adulterants. There is an urgent need fortechnologies that can identify all components present and provide information on theconcentration of active ingredients. British Columbia is the epicenter of Canadas overdosecrisis and Vancouver Island experiences overdose deaths rates more than twice the nationalaverage. Researchers and student trainees at the University of Victoria are leaders inemploying portable spectroscopy to drug checking as a public health response to overdose.In collaboration with Island Health Authority, we propose to expand on our current drugchecking services to champion one technology which has the potential to meet all needs:highly sensitive to detect low concentrations, low cost to enable broad distribution, and easeof use to either eliminate, or significantly reduce the need for scientists to operate instrumentsand interpret results. We are a unique collaboration of Chemistry and Social Work supportedby Computer Sciences working within a Patient Oriented Research framework that engageshealth care users, health care providers and health system decision makers. Our experiencein operating a suite of the best portable spectrometers available in health and harm reductionsettings informs this proposal to construct and implement an integrated platform thatcontinues technological advances to improve portability, capability, speed and accuracy butalso at a lower-cost and with a user interface that does not require employing highly trainedtechnicians. Our project proposes a drug checking platform that has the potential to overcomethe obstacles of instrument and staffing costs to facilitate public health to most fully integratedrug checking within the overdose strategies.