Pubdate: Mon, 25 Aug 2014
Source: Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)
Page: A3
Copyright: 2014 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Anne-Marie Vettorel
Cited: Toronto's Trip Project: http://www.tripproject.ca/trip/

DRUG-TESTING KITS CAN REDUCE HARM: ADVOCATES

TORONTO - Drug-testing kits currently available in Canada have
limitations, but they can be part of the solution to prevent
unnecessary deaths at live concerts, says a harm-reduction group.

Two people died this month at Toronto's Veld music festival after
taking what's believed to be party drugs.

Toronto's Trip Project says the testing kits, when combined with other
strategies like drug education, could make drug use safer for people
who will not abstain from risky behaviour.

"People die at music festivals. That's not a thing that we should just
accept," said Lori Kufner, a co-ordinator with the city-funded
organization.

Kufner said that testing kits for synthetic so-called "party" drugs
may be a way of reducing risks, but they aren't widely used and some
people who take drugs don't even know they're available.

"There's a lot of other drugs that are being created and sold and
passed off as other substances. Buying street drugs, you never really
know what it is," she said.

Health Canada says all synthetic club drugs are considered equally
harmful and are unsafe even in so-called "pure" forms.

Police are still trying to determine what drugs may have been consumed
by a 20-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man who died, and 13 others
who were sickened at the Veld Music Festival in Toronto's Downsview
Park. Police said all 15 people ingested what they believe was a party
drug purchased at the festival.

Drug-test kits remain "under the radar," said Karim Rifaat, the owner
of Test Kit Plus, a Montreal company that sells the kits online.

"A lot of people who like to use drugs recreationally don't even know
that it's possible to test them," he said.

Test kits may reduce harm, said Kufner, but there are still
limitations to their efficacy and barriers to use.

Kufner said the Trip Project can't test drugs on site, as it could be
considered trafficking and get the group in trouble with the law. And
the kits aren't necessarily convenient. The reagents are "somewhat
corrosive," said Kufner, and people must care for them properly to
avoid spoilage.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D