as part of Piloting and Evaluating Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario

Drug checking services (DCS) provide information on drug composition to inform consumption practices and monitor unregulated drug markets. We sought to identify correlates of recent informal DCS use (e.g., fentanyl test strips) and willingness to use a formal DCS (co-located within a supervised consumption site and employing laboratory-based analyses) in Toronto, Canada prior to its implementation.

as part of Preventing Injecting by Modifying Existing Responses (PRIMER)

As supervised consumption services (SCS) are scaled-up across Canada, information on those who require help injecting is necessary to inform equitable service uptake. We characterised the sociodemographic, structural and drug use correlates of needing help injecting among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada.

as part of Piloting and Evaluating Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario

This article reports on new synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) detected in drug samples submitted to Toronto’s Drug Checking Service (DCS) in Toronto, Canada, in the period following restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, during which global drug trafficking patterns are believed to have been affected.

as part of T-DOT (Toronto Disparities, Overdose and Treatment), formerly OiSIS

In March 2020, following a provincial COVID-19 emergency declaration, modifications to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) were introduced in Ontario, Canada to promote treatment access amid the pandemic and ongoing opioid overdose crisis. Our objectives were to evaluate the effects of these modifications on OAT enrollment and on receipt of take-home doses and the frequency of urine drug screening among OAT-enrolled participants, as well as to investigate concurrent pre- and post-implementation trends in opioid-related overdoses and all-cause mortality.

as part of Piloting and Evaluating Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario

This report presents early trends of samples analyzed within the first six months of drug checking service implementation in Toronto, Ontario. We sought to identify the prevalence of high-potency opioids in the unregulated drug supply and to identify noteworthy combinations thereof with stimulants, benzodiazepine-type drugs, and synthetic cannabinoids. We also present data on reported negative effects of samples (e.g., overdose).

as part of Systematic Reviews on Drug Policy

Given the growing availability of drug checking services and interest in their impacts, we conducted a systematic review to investigate the (a) influence of drug checking services on behaviour of people who use drugs, (b) monitoring of drug markets by drug checking services, and (c) outcomes related to models of drug checking services.

as part of T-DOT (Toronto Disparities, Overdose and Treatment), formerly OiSIS

The Ontario Integrated Supervised Injection Services cohort in Toronto, Canada (OiSIS-Toronto) is an open prospective cohort of people who inject drugs established to evaluate the impacts of supervised consumption services integrated within three community health agencies on health status and service use.

as part of Piloting and Evaluating Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario

We report the first detection of the psychoactive veterinary compound xylazine in Toronto, the largest urban center in Canada, by the city’s drug checking service.

as part of Preventing Injecting by Modifying Existing Responses (PRIMER)

To explore a potential relationship between overdose and injection initiation, we assessed temporal associations between experiencing a non-fatal overdose and assisting others in initiating injection drug use among persons who inject drugs in two North American cities - Vancouver, Canada and Tijuana, Mexico.

as part of Policy Impact Unit

In this brief for the Biden-Harris Administration, the CDPE and the Health in Justice Action Lab outline key actions to enhance the equity and effectiveness of drug policy in the United States.