Stop guessing – Drug checking saves lives

Where can I get my drugs checked?

Interior Health has drug checking services in Kamloops, Cranbrook, Nelson, Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon. To find a drug checking location near you, visit drugchecking.ca. To reach an Interior Health Mental Health and Substance Use centre near you, call 310-MHSU.

How do we check your drugs?

Interior Health uses FTIRs (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), an instrument that uses infrared light to reliably detect the composition of drugs.

Take home fentanyl test strips are also available in more than 72 locations throughout the Interior region.

Several popular summer arts and music festivals here in B.C. that provide drug checking. For example, here in the Southern Interior, both Bass Coast and Shambhala have harm reduction spaces on site where you can test your drugs safely and without judgement. Your drugs won’t be confiscated and can be returned to you.

“We are grateful to be part of the harm reduction teams at this year’s Bass Coast and Shambhala’s festivals,” said Jessica Bridgeman, manager, Sexual Health and Harm Reduction at Interior Health. “Everyone deserves to party safely. Our festival services are discreet and non-judgmental, and are meant to reduce the risks of substance use. We want to normalize access to information, tools and supplies while combatting stigma.”

• 89 per cent of opioids checked in May 2023 contained benzodiazepines (BC Coroners Service)
• Benzodiazepines do not respond to naloxone and create challenges for first responders trying to reverse drug poisonings.
• Fentanyl is often present in all opioid-type drugs, from pressed pills like oxycodone and Percocet to “down” and heroin. It is also sometimes found in other drugs as well.
• Since 2019, illicit fentanyl and its analogues were involved in more than 85 per cent of illicit drug toxicity deaths. (BC Coroners Service)
• Illicit drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death in B.C. for people between the ages of 10 to 59, surpassing homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined. (BC Coroners Service)