Winnipeg clinic gives people tool to test drugs for fentanyl

Madison Eldridge · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

NorWest Co-op Community Health is giving radical a mode to trial their drugs for fentanyl connected their own.

Test strips are the newest point successful the clinic's Our Healthbox vending machine, which distributes escaped harm simplification and wellness supplies. 

Our Healthbox was started by Reach Nexus arsenic portion of a nationalist probe task to situation wellness inequities. The vending instrumentality astatine NorWest connected Keewatin is 1 of 12 successful the country.  

Though the vending instrumentality is conscionable implicit a twelvemonth old, the trial strips are caller to the clinic.

The thought to adhd them came from a radical of superior attraction workers who noticed the request for the kits successful the community.

Kazel Ebora, a superior attraction caregiver astatine the clinic, said the trial strips assistance beforehand harmless consumption.

"We decided to adhd the fentanyl trial strips to our Healthbox arsenic different harm simplification inaugural to assistance radical beryllium informed of what they're utilizing successful their drugs and to assistance forestall an overdose," Ebora said.

The kit comes with 3 fentanyl trial strips, a cup, a spoon for measuring and a pamphlet with instructions.

To bash the test, a cause illustration the size of the caput of a lucifer is stirred into 30 millilitres of water. The idiosyncratic past dips the extremity of the portion with bluish wavy lines into the h2o for 15 seconds. After 2 minutes, the results appear.

"There are rather a fewer limitations contempt it being a large harm simplification tool," Ebora said.

"Although it tin observe fentanyl, it can't observe immoderate fentanyl analogs specified arsenic carfentanyl," she said.

"That's truly important, due to the fact that contempt utilizing this, if you bash get a antagonistic result, an overdose is inactive possible."

False negatives and positives are imaginable too, Ebora said. The tests besides person expiry dates and tin beryllium affected by improper storage. 

Health Canada besides cautions those utilizing the trial strips astir their limitations. 

A 2022 study published by Nine Circles, a Winnipeg assemblage session that specializes successful attraction for radical with HIV, said utilizing the strips to trial thoroughfare drugs is considered "off statement arsenic the strips were designed to observe fentanyl successful urine for forensic purposes."

The trial strips cannot observe the percent of fentanyl successful the sample, the Nine Circles study said. The strips springiness lone a affirmative oregon antagonistic result. 

Since the kits are not 100 per cent accurate, the trial strips tin springiness substance users a mendacious consciousness of assurance that the drugs they are utilizing are fentanyl free, the study said.

Ebora acknowledged the limits of the trial strips but said they tin inactive beryllium utile successful promoting harmless consumption.

"There person been aggregate studies connected clients who've utilized the fentanyl trial strips, and those who've had a affirmative effect person really made immoderate cause usage behaviour changes and accrued their opioid prevention oregon overdose prevention strategies," she said.

While immoderate substance users avoided utilizing their drugs erstwhile fentanyl was detected, Ebora knows others whitethorn usage the trial hoping for a affirmative result.

"Some radical who usage drugs are looking to usage an opioid, and truthful immoderate radical usage the trial to spot if determination is fentanyl successful their drugs," Ebora said.

"One of our strategies to forestall overdose is including a pamphlet that goes implicit tips connected however to beryllium safe, similar having naloxone and ne'er utilizing alone."

Other items successful the container astatine NorWest see HIV trial kits, cleanable ace pipes, hygiene kits, sage for smudging and naloxone. 

NorWest superior attraction caregiver Jennifer Gourlay said each Healthbox is stocked by nurses based connected the needs of the community.

Reach Nexus supplies the session with immoderate harm simplification tools. The session besides relies connected donations and uses its ain fund to support the container stocked.

Since the container was introduced to the session past March, it has been accessed by much than 2,000 unsocial users. A caller survey by NorWest recovered that adjacent to 10,000 harm simplification and wellness supplies had been dispensed, including 339 naloxone kits.

So far, 11 fentanyl trial portion kits person been fixed retired since they were added to the container conscionable a fewer weeks ago.

Gourlay said she hopes the anonymity of the instrumentality volition promote users to entree the tools and assistance they need.

"What I anticipation is that it volition physique spot with our clinic, with those who are utilizing substances, truthful that they tin travel to america erstwhile they request america for thing they can't get astatine the Healthbox," Gourlay said.