People who use drugs in Toronto have long advocated for access to drug checking in an effort to reduce the harms associated with using drugs from the unregulated supply. In 2017, Health Canada responded, funding multiple drug checking services across the country with the primary goal of preventing overdose. This included funding a drug checking pilot in Toronto.
The report, titled What’s in Toronto’s Drug Supply?, is an initiative of Toronto’s drug checking service, and is the first of its kind in Canada.
The report amasses results from 543 samples for a variety of unregulated drugs checked by the service from its launch date on October 10, 2019 until March 31, 2020.
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Piloting and Evaluating Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario
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Toronto's Drug Checking Service Website
Toronto's drug checking service has launched an interactive website! We will now publicly share regular information on Toronto’s unregulated drug supply, supporting more evidence-based harm reduction practices, policy, research, and care for people who use drugs.
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Emerging synthetic cannabinoids detected by a drug checking service in Toronto, Canada
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Diverse psychotropic substances detected in drug and drug administration equipment samples submitted to drug checking services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2019–April 2020
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What’s in Toronto’s drug supply? Results from samples checked by Toronto’s drug checking service: January 1 – December 31, 2020
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Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoid Adulteration in the Unregulated Drug Supply in three Canadian Settings
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As a harm reduction intervention available in Europe since the 1990s, DCS provide information on the composition of drugs to their clients in order to facilitate more informed drug-related decision-making and to increase the capacity of individuals to avoid ingesting unanticipated toxic substances, which can lead to overdose and death.
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Drug Checking Services for People Who Use Drugs: A Systematic Review
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