January 9, 2023 | Capital Daily via UVic News
According to a recent article, there has been a significant increase in drug testing for contaminants in Victoria over the past year. The Vancouver Island Drug Checking Project (Substance UVic) reported a nearly 400% rise in testing during the holiday season compared to 2021. This surge is driven by growing awareness of drug-checking services and new testing sites. The need for drug testing has become critical due to the unpredictable drug supply, which has led to thousands of deaths in British Columbia since the toxic drug crisis was declared a public health emergency in 2016. Substance UVic aims to expand its services and enhance the availability of testing information to better address this crisis.
One of the key figures behind this effort is Piotr Burek, a research assistant at Substance UVic for the past four years. Burek has observed a consistent increase in the demand for drug testing services in 2022, attributing this rise to growing awareness. He notes that many first-time users, particularly festival attendees, are learning about the importance of drug testing. Burek emphasizes its role in ensuring safer drug use, making it a regular practice for many.
Alongside Burek, Dr. Bruce Wallace, co-lead of the project, has been instrumental in planning and strategizing the expansion of Substance UVic’s services. Wallace’s expertise in public health and harm reduction is vital in guiding the project’s initiatives. He discusses potential new grants from Island Health to support their objectives, including adding more testing sites, accepting more mail-in samples, and sharing results online. Wallace also highlights the development of an open dashboard to share drug market data, though funding for this project is still pending.
Burek focuses on analyzing the makeup of drugs to identify contaminants and provide critical information for safer drug use. His expertise in drug checking and harm reduction is invaluable to the project’s goal of reducing drug use risks. He has been instrumental in expanding the project’s reach by opening new drug sample collection sites and promoting the significance of drug testing.
Together, Burek, Wallace, and the Substance UVic team are making strides in addressing the toxic drug crisis and promoting safer drug use practices in the community. For more information on the valuable work being done by Burek and Wallace through the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR), please visit UVicSpace.
