VANCOUVER — A pilot project that allows Vancouver drug users to test substances for the deadly opioid fentanyl is being expanded in an effort to reduce overdose deaths. Vancouver Coastal Health says the pilot project found that clients who found fentanyl in their drugs were 10 times more likely to reduce their dose and, as a result, they were 25 per cent less likely to overdose. The free drug-checking service will now be available at any of the city’s four overdose prevention sites and the Powell Street Getaway safe injection site. Judy Darcy, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions, said the drug test empowers users to make informed decisions about whether or how much they consume. The information being gathered by Vancouver Coastal Health with this project will be invaluable to this work,” she said in a news release.

Source: National Post August 31, 2017 21:33 UTC