PEERS can now test street drugs for cautious users, in absence of supervised site
The P.E.I. advocacy group PEERS Alliance now has the ability to test street drugs using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, a machine bought by the province for a facility that has never been set up.
The spectrometer was purchased for use at a supervised consumption site the province planned to fund in Charlottetown. The idea is that someone who had acquired street drugs to use at the site could have a sample tested on the spot to determine whether it was indeed what the buyer thought it was.
"It can take a sample, a very small amount, the size of a matchhead, and it can test it for various components," said Tessa Rogers, harm reduction project manager with PEERS Alliance.
A plan was brought forward last year to locate a supervised injection site on Park Street, but in October Charlottetown city council rejected such a use for that site, and the province has not put forward a new proposal.
Rather than see the machine sit idle, PEERS reached an agreement with the province to use it while a new plan for a supervised consumption site is put in place. But for now, access to the spectrometer is limited.
Tessa Rogers is currently the only PEERS employee trained to use the spectrometer. (Tony Davis/CBC)
"Right now, it is unfortunately just myself," said Rogers. "With the interim agreement, we weren't able to absorb more staff to be dedicated to this project."
The machine requires a trained technician, and Rogers is the only PEERS staff member to have received that training.
The group is also limited by space. It does not have a location where the machine can be set up and people can bring their drugs for testing.
'It's really frustrating'
In the meantime, PEERS is committed to making access to the spectrometer as open as possible. It is using what it calls a hub-and-spoke model: Drug users can give a sample to a PEERS outreach worker on the street, and the worker will take it in for testing.
But Rogers said she is feeling the pressure from being the only person trained to use the machine.
It's really stressful, because we think about if anything went awry when the only technician is on vacation or is ill. — Tessa Rogers
"It's really frustrating, it's really stressful, because we think about if anything went awry when the only technician is on vacation or is ill," she said. "It really is not an ideal situation."
Right now, a user would face a delay of hours or even days before getting results from the machine. This could work for casual or weekend drug users, but could be a problem for someone dependent on a drug, who may decide to go ahead and use it before getting results back.
That's risky at a time when super-powerful synthetic drugs are entering the illegal market and sometimes mixed with other drugs without the buyer knowing.
PEERS will be demonstrating the spectrometer at events in Charlottetown and Summerside this week marking International Overdose Awareness Day.
The first will be in Summerside on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park at Trinity United Church. A Charlottetown event will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. at 53 Grafton St., Ste 101.
