Expanding harm reduction to include fentanyl urine testing: results from a pilot in rural British Columbia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Harm reduction has been at the forefront of the response to the opioid overdose public health emergency in British Columbia (BC). The unprecedented number of opioid overdose deaths in the province calls for an expansion of harm reduction services. The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability of a fentanyl urine drug test among people who use drugs (PWUD) and explore whether testing introduced any changes in participants' attitudes and behaviors towards their drug use.

Methods

A pilot of fentanyl urine testing was implemented in partnership with an outreach harm reduction program in rural BC. Participants were PWUD who had consumed within the last 3 days prior to the test. Participants filled out a semi-structured questionnaire at the time of the te

SUBMITTER: Mema SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5889598 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature