Merrittonians can now take drug testing into their own hands thanks to a pilot project aimed at lowering the number of fentanyl overdoses in the region.

Members of the public can pick up free take-home testing kits at ASK Wellness in Merritt for the next three months.

“This is a way for people to still maintain their anonymity around their drug use,” said Bob Hughes, director of ASK Wellness Society.  “They are able to access a kit and be shown how to use it and take that kit back home and before they consume a substance they can know whether there is fentanyl in it.”

The fentanyl crisis in B.C.’s Interior is “unrelenting,” added Hughes.

The substance was present in approximately 87 per cent of illicit drug overdose deaths in 2018 in B.C., according to a news release issued by Interior Health.

“I think it’s a really great effort by the health authority to really tackle this ongoing epidemic,” he said.

Putting the power of drug testing into the hands of the public can help them make informed decisions around substance use, said Dr. Jane Buxton, medical lead for harm reduction for the BC Centre for Disease Control.

“After testing their drugs, people may choose to use less, to use with a friend, or not use the drug at all,” she said. “And, of course, key to staying safe even with access to test strips is to be trained to respond to an overdose and have a naloxone kit with you at all times.”

The pilot project will help researchers decide if at-home drug testing is an effective alternative to staff-led testing currently offered at certain health care facilities.

Hughes thinks it will be.

“It is very challenging to try to reach this population that is still feeling a great deal of stigma around their drug use.” – Bob Hughes

“What we know is that the people at the highest risk of fatal overdoses are using largely in private dwellings — they are in their own homes, they are in a trailer, they are in a hotel room.” said Hughes. “Obviously that speaks to a population that has higher income, they are not necessarily those that are homeless. So it is a recognition that people who are employed, who have families, that are using substances with a contaminated drug supply,” he said.

“I think there has been a really great effort by the Ministry of Health and in particular Interior Health to get that prevention and education out to the more street involved population, but it is very challenging to try to reach this population that is still feeling a great deal of stigma around their drug use,” he added.