British Columbia is in the midst of an enduring drug overdose crisis that continues to claim hundreds of people every year with no end in sight. With a significant rise in deaths over the last seven years, innovative responses are urgently needed.
Among these responses is community drug checking, which continues to gain traction in both public health practice and research. Drug checking is a harm reduction practice that provides chemical analysis of substances. This is not only to inform harm reduction for people who use, buy and sell drugs (and those who support them), but also to monitor the supply for emerging trends that inform both the community and policymakers about the state of the unregulated supply, which remains volatile, unpredictable and dangerous.
