Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
The objective of this study was to determine the number of drug checking samples containing fentanyl and fentanyl analogues using both point of care and confirmatory drug checking technologies.
Findings/Key points
Our research found that FTIR does not consistently distinguish between fentanyl and its analogues at point of care and that highly sensitive confirmatory drug checking technologies are needed to identify fentanyl analogues.
Design/methods
Point-of-care drug checking data, using a combination of fentanyl immunoassay strips and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were collected at harm reduction sites in Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia. Based on current recommendations from the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use Drug Checking Project, a subset of these samples was sent for confirmatory analysis using quantitative nuclear resonance spectroscopy, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and/or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
