Drug checking services at music festivals and events in a Canadian setting.
Karen McCrae, Samuel Tobias, Kenneth W. Tupper, J. Arredondo, B. Henry, Silvina C. Mema, E. Wood, L. Ti
Drug and Alcohol Dependence December 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107589 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDrug checking at four music festivals in British Columbia in 2018 found that many substances contained unexpected adulterants. Of 336 checks, most samples were expected to be psychedelics (69.3%) or stimulants (19.6%). Among 233 psychedelic samples, 72.5% contained the expected unadulterated substance, while 11.6% had additional contaminants. Of 66 stimulant samples, 62.1% contained the expected substance, and 36.4% had additional contaminants. Unexpected adulterants included fentanyl, levamisole, phenacetin, and novel psychoactive substances. The authors suggest these findings highlight the value of continued drug checking for designing harm reduction interventions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 336 |
| Population | Drug samples submitted by clients at music festivals and events in British Columbia |
| Duration | July to September 2018 |
| Keywords | Medicine |
| Key finding | A large proportion of substances contained unexpected adulterants, with 27 of 233 psychedelic samples and 24 of 66 stimulant samples containing additional contaminants. |
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Drug checking is a harm reduction intervention that allows for identification of drug composition. The objective of the study was to assess drug market components and concordance between expected substance reported by clients and results from point-of-care drug checking at music festivals and events in British Columbia. METHODS From July to September 2018, we provided drug checking services at four events using combination Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and fentanyl immunoassay strips. We measured concordance between expected substance as reported by clients to the results from the FTIR/fentanyl immunoassay strip and tracked unexpected adulterants. RESULTS In total, 336 checks were completed. Most samples were expected by clients to be psychedelics (69.3%) or stimulants (19.6%). Of the 233 psychedelic samples, 169 (72.5%) contained the expected, unadulterated substance, and 27 (11.6%) contained additional contaminants. Of 66 stimulant samples, 41 (62.1%) contained expected substance, while 24 (36.4%) contained additional contaminants. Unexpected adulterants such as fentanyl, levamisole, and phenacetin were also found, in addition to several novel psychoactive substances. DISCUSSION We found a large proportion of substances that contained unexpected adulterants. Our findings highlight the value of continued drug checking and will be helpful in designing future harm reduction interventions in similar contexts.