ID: HR19-30

Presenting author: Geoff Bardwell

Presenting author biography:

Dr. Bardwell is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the BC Centre on Substance Use and Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on overdose response interventions. He uses qualitative methods to examine the ways in which physical, social, and structural conditions shape overdose response programs.

The potential uptake of drug checking technologies among structurally vulnerable people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A qualitative study

Geoff Bardwell, Jade Boyd, Kenneth Tupper, Thomas Kerr

Background: A range of novel public health interventions are being considered to address the opioid overdose epidemic, including drug checking technologies. We examined the willingness to use various drug checking technologies among structurally-vulnerable people who use drugs (PWUD).

Methods: We conducted one-to-one qualitative semi-structured interviews with 20 PWUD in Vancouver, Canada’s Downtown Eastside. We provided in-depth descriptions of six drug checking technologies, and, to minimize answers influenced by social desirability, asked both generalizable and individualized questions about perceived actions and preferences of PWUD use of drug checking technologies and probed discrepancies between answers accordingly.

Results: Overall willingness to use drug checking technologies was low among participants. A range of factors undermined potential use of various drug checking technologies including: having to give up a drug sample; time dedication; discrepancies regarding measurements and accuracy; recourse following positive fentanyl results; ambivalence to overdose risk; and availability and accessibility of drug checking technologies.

Conclusions: Participants discussed numerous factors that undermined willingness to use drug checking technologies. These factors underscore the structural vulnerabilities experienced by PWUD and how they may constrain uptake of drug checking technologies. Future drug checking programming should consider these influencing factors prior to the implementation of drug checking technologies to ensure that drug checking interventions are appropriate and meeting the needs of local populations.