When you first walk into the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Vernon, it’s like any neighbourhood pharmacy: it has your over-the-counter drugs for cold and flu season, your daily essential vitamins and prescription drugs.
But behind the counter is something unique: a drug checking service for anyone to use. It's the first service of its kind offered at a pharmacy in the B.C. Interior.
“Drug checking services allow us, in the face of the toxic drug crisis, to monitor what is happening with the illicit drug supply. Otherwise, we don’t know until it’s too late,” noted Interior Health’s manager of harm reduction Jessica Bridgeman.
