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Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
This study explores drug sellers’ negotiation of and engagement with drug checking technologies in Vancouver, Canada.
Findings/Key points
Drug sellers accessing drug checking services were concerned about the safety of their customers, and drug checking was one way of reducing the likelihood of harm. When they had access to drug checking knowledge, sellers were able to modify risks related to the fentanyl market, including tailoring drugs sold to clients, returning dangerous batches and modifying fentanyl in order to make it safer to consume.
These findings reposition drug sellers as embedded within their communities and demonstrate their potential role in alleviating the dangers of the volatile fentanyl market. Policies that target people who sell drugs, particularly murder or manslaughter charges, are likely to make the crisis worse, and serious consideration should be put into harm reduction approaches with drug sellers.
Design/methods
Rapid ethnographic fieldwork was conducted from November 2018 to January 2019, including 26 semi-structured interviews with people who tested their drugs at an overdose prevention site to examine perceptions of the efficacy of drug checking. As drug sellers were also using the drug checking services, we specifically examined their perceptions of drug checking and the market aspects of the overdose crisis.
