Initial results of a drug checking pilot program to detect fentanyl adulteration in a Canadian setting

North America has been experiencing an unprecedented illicit drug overdose crisis in recent years. In 2016, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States, reflecting an increase in the age-adjusted overdose death rate from 6.1 per 100,000 standard population in 1999 to 19.8 in 2016 (Hedegaard et al., 2017). In Canada, accidental opioid overdose deaths have also been increasing, and Western provinces have been particularly affected (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses, 2018).

Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence - July 24, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Kenneth W. Tupper, Karen McCrae, Ian Garber, Mark Lysyshyn, Evan Wood Tags: Short communication Source Type: research