UBC’s Social Justice Centre (SJC) held its second drug testing event on January 22 in the Nest.
Announced on the group's Instagram, the event ran from 12:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Community members could get free immunoassay fentanyl testing strips and naloxone kits on the main floor of the Nest. Then, they could head upstairs to room 2504 and have their drugs tested anonymously on-site by Get Your Drugs Tested (GYDT) — an organization that offers free drug testing in Vancouver.
The SJC had previously distributed 100 fentanyl testing strips to students in October ahead of Halloween weekend.
Madeline Elder, a first-year UBC medical student and member of UBC’s Medicine Municipal Advocacy Committee, was volunteering at the SJC event on Friday. She said the event’s goal was to “prevent overdose and … empower students to use drugs safely.”
Elder cautioned that fentanyl testing strips don’t detect carfentanyl and aren’t perfect. She used a “chocolate chip cookie analogy” to explain that, like each bite of a cookie doesn’t always have a chocolate chip, not all testing strips detect fentanyl.
“Even after testing your drugs, it's important to, you know, go slow and never use alone,” she said.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is extremely toxic and increases the risk of accidental overdose. Over 7,700 people have died from overdose since the province declared a state of emergency in 2016. By October of 2021, BC lost 1,782 community members because of the toxic drug supply.
In room 2504, Allen Custance, site manager at GYDT and Karine Lapointe, a harm reduction worker and sexologist, had a spectrometer, immunoassay tests, naloxone and information packets. People could bring 10mg of solid samples, a couple drops of liquid, a quarter of a blotter or a quarter of a pill for analysis.
Anonymous testing was first come, first served, and the results took 10 to 15 minutes. Folks could get the details about their drugs in person, emailed or provided over the phone.
Custance said GYDT is in contact with several student-run organizations, including the AMS.
“[We are] hoping to have a bigger presence on campus. And, that’s likely going to be in the form of a mobile testing model.”
Eshana Bhangu volunteers with the SJC and is the vice-president of academic and university affairs at AMS. She said the testing strips were purchased through collaboration between SCJ and AMS and that she is “hoping to see a permanent site on campus, and [she] thinks there's many ways to pursue that.”
She added that a permanent site would mean students wouldn’t have to bus across the city for drug testing.
“It's very important to invest in harm reduction because the reality is students do use drugs … it’s time we start promoting safe usage.”
She said another way to do this is to ensure Good Samaritan policies are part of UBC Housing’s residence contracts and that “[students] should be able to call for help [if someone overdoses] without being afraid if [their] housing contract is going to get cancelled.”
UBC currently has a zero-tolerance policy for illicit substances in housing.
As reported by The Ubyssey, UBC doesn’t include mandatory training for residence advisors on how to use a naloxone kit.
When it comes to harm reduction and knowledge about drug use in our community, Custance said that education about topics like drug use and sex ed could be improved.
“Without this proper education and information, people aren't able to make educated and informed decisions for themselves, and they usually find themselves in very vulnerable positions,” said Custance.
He also suggests that you “test every batch you buy,” even if you go to the same dealer each time. Another suggestion included using with other people. He noted that if you don’t have a friend around, there are “apps on your phone that you can have on, and they check in on you and make sure you're OK.”
Some of these include the BeSafe app and Lifeguard. Custance said you should also carry naloxone and start slowly “with a small amount and seeing how it goes and going up from there, seeing how you react.”
Another way to learn about drugs that Custance suggests is PsychonautWiki, the “Wikipedia for drugs.”
Anyone that missed the event can get fentanyl testing strips at the resource lounge lobby on the second floor of the Nest or outside the SASC on the third floor of the Nest.
GYDT is open every day from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 880 East Hastings Street.
Anyone wanting to get contaminated drug alerts can send a text with the word “alert” to (236) 999-DOPE (3673).