ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2022
Take-home drug checking as a novel harm reduction strategy in British Columbia, Canada.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interpol review of forensic drug chemistry, 2022-2025.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2026Review
- Managing benzodiazepine dependence arising from use of the adulterated opioid supply: a commentary.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Harm reduction approaches within Indigenous communities across Turtle Island: A scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Cohort profile: Mothers who use substances and their children in British Columbia, Canada.PloS one · 2026Article
- A qualitative study exploring motives for the transition from injecting to smoking drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- "All it's gonna tell you is if it has fentanyl or not:" Perceptions of fentanyl and drug checking among first responders and people who use drugs.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Association of fentanyl test strip results and change in drug use behaviors: A multi-state, community-based observational study.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Observational
- Understanding Drug and Alcohol Staff Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators to Drug Checking: A Qualitative Study.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Fentanyl Polysubstance Use Patterns and Their Associations With Hepatitis C Virus, Skin and Soft Tissue Infections, and Non-Fatal Overdose Among People Who Inject Drugs in New York City.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Using RE-AIM to evaluate the implementation of a social marketing and free product distribution project for fentanyl and xylazine test strips in New York State.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Community-based drug checking at syringe service programs in New York City observe an increasing prevalence of xylazine from 2021 through 2024.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Characteristics of take-home fentanyl test strip use and support for drug checking services among people who use heroin in Australia: learnings for an increasingly complex drug market.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Fentanyl Test Strip Use and Overdose Risk Reduction Behaviors Among People Who Use Drugs.JAMA network open · 2025Observational
- Use of reagent test kits and fentanyl test strips among electronic music festival attendees in Colorado: prevalence, barriers, and behavior in response to drug checking.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- "They talk about it like it's an overdose crisis when in fact it's basically genocide": The experiences of Indigenous peoples who use illicit drugs in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Nitazene test strips: a laboratory evaluation.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Contextual factors affecting the implementation of drug checking for harm reduction: a scoping literature review from a North American perspective.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- NPAideS: a drug-checking study among 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) users.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDrug checking is a harm reduction strategy used to identify components of illicitly obtained drugs, including adulterants, to prevent overdose. This study evaluated the distribution of take-home fentanyl test strips to people who use drugs (PWUD) in British Columbia, Canada. The primary aim was to assess if the detection of fentanyl in opioid samples was concordant between a take-home model and testing by trained drug checking staff.
methodsTake-home fentanyl test strips were distributed at ten sites providing drug checking services from April to July 2019. The fentanyl positivity of the aggregate take-home and on-site drug checking groups were compared by class of substance tested. An administered survey assessed acceptability and behaviour change.
results1680 take-home results were obtained from 218 unique participants; 68% of samples (n=1142) were identified as opioids and 23% (n=382) were stimulant samples. During this period, 852 samples were tested using on-site drug checking. The fentanyl positivity of opioid samples was 90.0% for take-home samples and 89.1% for on-site samples (Difference 0.8% (95% CI -2.3% to 3.9%)). These results were not affected by previous experience with test strips. Fentanyl positivity of stimulants in the take-home group was higher than on-site (24.7% vs. 3.2%), but the study was underpowered to conduct statistical analysis on this sub-group. When fentanyl was detected, 27% of individuals reported behaviour change that was considered safer/positive. Greater than 95% of participants stated they would use fentanyl test strips again.
conclusionsTake-home fentanyl test strips used by PWUD on opioid samples can provide similar results to formal drug checking services and are a viable addition to existing overdose prevention strategies. Use of this strategy for detection of fentanyl in stimulant samples requires further evaluation. This intervention was well accepted and in some participants was associated with positive behaviour change.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.