logo
Could at-home test strips prevent drug deaths? Experts say yes, but it's complicated

Could at-home test strips prevent drug deaths? Experts say yes, but it's complicated

CBC24-04-2025

Canadians are dying alone from toxic drugs and experts say easier access to at-home drug-testing strips could help prevent deaths. But they warn the strips have limitations.
Dr. Nash Denic, Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical examiner, says that though the strips aren't perfect, they can be useful in detecting if some toxins are present. He would like to see a government-led pilot project to distribute the strips along with naloxone kits, which reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
"There is a possibility that harm can be reduced. Especially if you're a novice and you're trying a different type of drug, you want to test it first," said Denic, adding that if used properly, test strips "can save your life."
Dr. Alexander Caudarella, chief executive officer of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, also sees a benefit in making test strips more available to people in their homes.
"We know most of the people in this country are not dying on the streets — they're dying behind locked doors in their own apartments or houses," said Caudarella.
The strips can be part of a larger strategy to stay safe, which includes not consuming drugs alone, he said.
But there are caveats. The tests need to be used properly and they won't say how much contaminant is present, only that it's there. The number of toxins they can detect is limited. Fentanyl test strips, for example, won't pick up newer opioids, Caudarella says.
"It's not going to tell people exactly what's in their drugs, but we find these tools can be really important to help people understand just how contaminated the drugs that they're buying are," he said.
This is especially important for people who believe their drugs are safe because they purchased them from a website or a person they trust, he added.
BTNX Inc.'s Rapid Response tests are among the most widely used tests strips in Canada. The Ontario-based company has strips for contaminants including fentanyl, xylazine, benzodiazepine and nitazene. The company's website says clearly that the strips don't test for drug purity or safety — they can only say if the target contaminant is present.
The strips can be purchased in Canada online, or they can be found at safe consumption sites or through other harm reduction services. They are placed in a small amount of the drug, which has been dissolved in water. A line appears on the strip to indicate the presence of contaminants.
For those who need the strips immediately, and who may not use or have access to harm reduction services, options are limited. BTNX is still working to offer them for sale in large retail chains, spokesperson Molly McKay said.
The company is also aware the test strips can miss toxic contaminants.
"We're continuously working with our third-party researchers to determine what those blind spots are, and then we make corrections," said McKay.
Two teenagers died this year in Newfoundland and Labrador after taking pills contaminated with nitazene, a potent synthetic opioid, and bromazolam, a benzodiazepine which can be lethal when taken with opioids, says Denic. Xylazine, a veterinary sedative, is a common contaminant in cocaine. And fentanyl deaths in the province show no signs of abating, though they've recently been overtaken by cocaine.
Test strips could help people stay safer from some of these toxins, Denic says. A positive test result may convince someone not to use the drug or to use much less of it.
Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, says ideally, it would be easier for people to have their drugs checked by more advanced equipment, like the tests available at some safe consumption sites in the country. Their results are more accurate, and they can be used to track contaminants in the local drug supply.
"In most parts of the country, you can walk into any community pharmacy and request a take-home naloxone kit. That is how accessible well-developed drug-checking tests should be," said Culbert.
But still, take-home test strips are "better than nothing," he said.
Some have misguided beliefs that expanding drug-checking services will ultimately encourage more drug use, Culbert says, and worries those ideas turn decision-makers away from making it easier to check and test drugs.
"There is a continuum of public health interventions that all can help reduce the number of deaths associated with the toxic drug crisis. Drug checking is one of them," Culbert said. "We need to be investing across the spectrum, not just ideologically picking the ones that suit the agenda of the government of the day."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated
Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

Toronto Star

time2 hours ago

  • Toronto Star

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 460 laid-off employees at the nation's top public health agency received notices Wednesday that they are being reinstated, according to a union representing the workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed reinstatement notices went out to the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, but provided few details. About 2,400 CDC employees lost their jobs in a wave of cuts across federal health agencies in early April, according to a tally at the time. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Whole CDC programs were essentially shut down, including some focused on smoking, lead poisoning, gun violence, asthma and air quality, and workplace safety and health. The entire office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests was shuttered. Infectious disease programs took a hit, too, including programs that fight outbreaks in other countries, labs focused on HIV and hepatitis in the U.S., and staff trying to eliminate tuberculosis. An estimated 200 of the reinstated workers are based in the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, HHS officials confirmed. Staffers at a CDC lab that does testing for sexually transmitted diseases are being brought back, said one CDC employee who wasn't authorized to discuss what happened and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Also reinstated are an estimated 150 employees at the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, including people staffing a lab that works on lead poisoning, according to the union and employees. Layoffs at federal agencies were challenged in lawsuits, with judges in some cases ordering federal agencies to halt terminations of employees. Officials at HHS have never detailed how they made the layoff decisions in the first place. And they did not answer questions about why the notices went out, or how decisions were made about who to bring back. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the agency was streamlining operations and that 'the nation's critical public health functions remain intact and effective.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases,' he said. This is not the first time that employees at the Atlanta-based agency were told they were being terminated only to then be told to come back. After an earlier round of termination notices went out in February, about 180 CDC employees in March were told to come back. __ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Cost of living has half of Canadian pet owners skipping vet visits: survey
Cost of living has half of Canadian pet owners skipping vet visits: survey

Global News

time3 hours ago

  • Global News

Cost of living has half of Canadian pet owners skipping vet visits: survey

Half of Canadian pet owners are skipping visits to the veterinarian's office because of financial concerns, a new survey shows. According to a survey conducted by PetSmart Charities of Canada and Gallup, half (50 per cent) of Canadian pet parents have either skipped or declined necessary veterinary care for their pets. Financial pressure was the leading cause of people skipping the vet's office, the survey of 2,033 dog and cat owners from the 10 provinces in Canada found. Of those who said they were declining or skipping those visits, 67 per cent said they did so because it was not affordable, they did not believe the services were worth the cost or a combination of both. 0:59 Global Okanagan Adopt A Pet: Diesel The rate of pet parents skipping the vet was higher among younger Canadians (59 per cent). Story continues below advertisement Even higher-income Canadians were facing financial pressures in dealing with pet care, with 27 per cent of pet owners who make more than $90,000 a year saying they have skipped vet visits. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Of the Canadians who declined pet care, 21 per cent said their veterinarian offered them a payment plan and 66 per cent said an interest-free plan could double what they are able to spend on life-saving care for their furry friends. Another major reason for Canadians skipping pet care is that their vet is simply too far away. Just under half (46 per cent) of those who travel under 10 kilometres to the veterinarian report skipping or declining care, but that figure rises to 54 per cent for those who travel more than 10 kilometres. 2:48 Global Peterborough's Shelter Pet Project June 6 Nearly one in five (18 per cent) pet owners said they rely on non-vets when their pet is sick. This includes consulting the internet, friends or pet professionals, such as trainers and groomers. Story continues below advertisement Four in 10 pet owners said they would be open to services like telemedicine or home visits by vets. 'These data suggest that services like community clinics and telemedicine — where permitted and available — could help make care more accessible, and many pet parents would use them if they could. But awareness and regulation of these services still vary across regions, pointing to opportunities for expanded infrastructure and support,' said Julie Ray, Gallup's managing editor for world news. A recent Ipsos poll showed that inflation and cost of living was the top issue for Canadians. That issue was considered the top domestic news story in Canada by 71 per cent of Canadians, according to the polling conducted exclusively for Global News on what people considered the biggest stories of this year. 4:44 Adopt a Pet: New Hope Dog Rescue fostering dogs for wildfire evacuees Results for the PetSmart Charities of Canada-Gallup State of Pet Care study are based on a combined web- and phone-based survey conducted with 2,033 dog and cat owners from the 10 provinces in Canada. Gallup surveyed 1,804 Canadian adults who indicated they currently owned at least one dog or cat via a web-based survey Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 2024. Gallup also surveyed an additional 229 dog and cat owners via a telephone survey Dec. 5-23, 2024, to reach pet owners who may not have access to the internet. For results based on the total sample of 2,033 Canadian dog and cat owners, the margin of sampling error is ±2.3 percentage points at the 95 per cent confidence level. Margins of error for subgroups are larger.

‘A very simple idea' might make a big difference for stroke patients
‘A very simple idea' might make a big difference for stroke patients

CTV News

time4 hours ago

  • CTV News

‘A very simple idea' might make a big difference for stroke patients

A research team at LHSC and Western University has found a new way to identify blood clots which cause strokes. Dr. Luciano Sposato admits that a simple change in procedure may have a significant impact on stroke patients. His research team at London Health Sciences Centre and Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has found a new way to identify blood clots responsible for strokes. When a stroke patient arrives at the hospital, time is of the utmost critical. Sposato states a CT scan of the brain is often underway within 10 minutes to determine underlying causes. Frequently a cause is never found, making it difficult to predict future strokes. In 2023, researchers began to wonder if expanding scans further down the body might make a difference. 'We always suspected that clots came from the heart. So, we said, why don't we just go a little bit lower with the acquisition of the images and see if the clots were there?' said Sposato. It turned out they often were. An eight-month study found that clots were hiding in the hearts of a large number of patients. 'We know exactly like that we can increase the detection of parts of the heart by 500%, and we would only need to scan 14 patients to find one clot. So, it is a very high-yield type of detection study,' said Sposato. While the implantation phase of the study will soon begin, policies will take time to change. Sposato told CTV News the research has attracted interest from the US, Europe and Asia. He is hopeful that, in time, it will make a significant difference towards preventing future medical events. 'By preventing future strokes, people will not be as disabled as they might have been, and we can also prevent dementia by reducing brain damage, that 10 years later could cause dementia in these patients as well,' Sposato said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store