A beginner’s guide to substance testing
Photo by Hannah Link.
On March 12, UVic displayed a toxic drug advisory warning banner on its website, after Island Health issued an advisory for Greater Victoria earlier that week.
This came after three people died within four days of each other in downtown Victoria, each from suspected drug overdoses.
Following these events, the Martlet learned more about how students can get their recreational drugs checked for free at Substance drug testing facility.
Substance is a UVic-led drug-testing research initiative that allows anyone to check the contents of their drugs. This facility offers harm-reduction services to those who use recreational substances, while also conducting research to better understand the local drug supply.
The team of technicians and researchers at Substance use a Paper-Spray Mass Spectrometry machine to identify the chemical makeup of each sample, including the approximate amount of the active ingredient compared to other ingredients, like fillers.
Below, we’ve outlined five easy steps to take in order to know what’s in your drugs.
Visit Substance or send in a sample
Substance is located at 1802 Cook St. and is open from noon to 7p.m. Monday to Friday. Anyone is welcome to drop in and have their supply tested. Alternatively, you can mail samples to the office using instructions found on the Substance website, or you can bring a sample to a drug-checking site that partners with Substance.
Learn about the process
Staff will provide information about the drug-testing process, including an optional set of questions that assists the research team. Testing is completely anonymous, meaning that you do not need to provide identification.
The team will explain what they can tell you about a sample — including the main active ingredient, unexpected drugs and agents used as fillers, and what they are not able to tell you — if the sample is “pure,” if it contains a drug not found in their reference database, and if it the substance safe to use.
Provide a sample
Next, you will provide the team with approximately 10 mg of the substance you have brought to be tested, which is about the size of a grain of rice. Because of the method used to test the drug, this sample cannot be returned to you. Staff will provide you with an anonymous ID number for your sample, which will be used to track your results.
Wait for your sample to be processed
It takes around 20 minutes for your sample to be tested, though it can take longer if the team is especially busy with testing. While you wait, you can explore Substance’s free harm-reduction resources, including safer use supplies, and relevant brochures. You are also free to leave the office and receive your results online.
Get your results
When your results are ready, you can view your sample online, by phoning or texting Substance, or by stopping by their office. If you’d like, the technicians will review your results with you in order for you to understand the makeup of the sample you brought in.
Nervous or unsure?
“We have an exemption to handle illegal substances in our premises, and everyone is protected by that,” Pablo Gonzalez, Substance harm reduction worker and drug-checking technician told the Martlet. “We are not associated in any way to any enforcement agencies.”
Taylor Teal, Substance’s training developer and facilitator, told the Martlet that “there is nothing to lose by coming to access drug checking … you’re going to gain more information.”
