"She works for an Oakland nonprofit that analyzes street drugs for unwanted chemicals a dash of fentanyl in a bag of tar heroin, for instance, or an emerging industrial chemical that sears the veins of users. Vitatoe and her colleagues take a small sample and test it with a machine that beams infrared light. Within minutes, they return the drug to the user, along with information about its true contents and safety advice. All free of charge."
"Drug checking is a public health strategy that California is leaning into more and more as overdose deaths continue to plague the region. The approach is rooted in the principle of harm reduction. Research suggests that drug users make more informed decisions, and behave safer, if they're empowered with knowledge of what is actually in the drugs they're using. Proponents say this knowledge can be the difference between a user living long enough to reach recovery or becoming another statistic of the overdose crisis."
Social service providers offer free street drug checking using handheld infrared machines that analyze small samples and quickly identify unwanted chemicals, adulterants, and synthetic opiates. Technicians return the tested drug to users within minutes and provide information about true contents and safety advice. The service operates near harm reduction sites, including needle exchanges. Research indicates that knowledge of drug composition enables users to make more informed, safer decisions and can prevent fatal overdoses. The drug supply is increasingly adulterated with substances such as fentanyl and xylazine. Drug checking can alert users to dangerous additives and reduce overdose risk.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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