New bag or connect? Have you or someone you know experienced an unusual reaction to something???
Drug Checking Hours of Operation:
Wednesday to Saturday: 13:00 – 17:00
What we offer: The POUNDS Project provides FTIR spectrometer analysis, benzo, and fentanyl testing strips, and personalized harm reduction information in a non-judgmental and anonymous space for each individual we serve.
What this means: Our technicians can identify the main components of your sample, up to 4 or 5 unique substances, as well as any additional cuts or additives that may be present.
Through drug checking, we aim to provide a safer and more informed experience for people who use drugs. However, it’s important to note that no substance use is entirely risk-free. That’s why our technicians work with individuals to explore different strategies for reducing the risks associated with substance use.
Two doors down is a safe and judgement-free space. Our drug checking service is free to use and completely confidential. You will never face trouble with the law for accessing our services; we have special exemptions from the provincial
government that keep folks safe while accessing the site.
Scroll down for more on the process and what the results can tell you!
Stay tuned for our mail-in testing service!
Alert: Bad dope
Stay informed and stay safe: Check here for important updates on dangerous substances in circulation.
Public Health Alert ️– February 29, 2024
There has been an increase in overdoses in the community of Prince George linked to dark purple drug sold as “down”. This substance is causing slow, irregular breathing needing naloxone despite being awake. Individuals are requiring continued monitoring and encouragement to breathe.
Population & Public Health has issued a toxic drug alert for the community of Prince George. Please distribute broadly to those who would benefit from this information.
For more information, go to:
https://stories.northernhealth.ca/news/toxic-drug-alert-prince-george-11
https://www.northernhealth.ca/health-topics/overdose-prevention
Text JOIN to 253787 to receive toxic drug and public health alerts via text.
FTIR Drug Checking process
| What we CAN tell you | What we CAN’T tell you |
| Any cuts or buffs present in your sample | Very miniscule substances |
| The major ingredients | Exactly what’s in your sample |
| If Fentanyl or Benzodiazepines are present | If a drug is safe – remember that detection limit is roughly 5% |
| Estimate for the Mixture Composition (and Concentration) | The drug’s level of purity |
| Harm Reduction tips for whatever substance you’re using |
Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is an analytical technique that is used to identify the composition of solid mixtures. Our services and machine are provided to us by Northern Health in collaboration with the British Columbia Centre for Substance Use (BCCSU) and thanks to this collaboration we offer free, fast, and anonymous drug testing services to our community.
Once you bring us any drugs, we take a minimal amount (roughly half the size of a grain of rice) place it on our FTIR and scan it. The scanning process is non-destructive, meaning that once we finish scanning your sample you can get it all back as-is.
Once the sample is checked, we see the spectrum it produces on our computer where we can cross-reference your sample to known libraries of other samples to identify which compounds match the closest. We can also perform a mixture analysis to find out roughly how much of each compound is present in the mixture up to a maximum of 5 unique substances.
This said, our FTIR has a detection limit of roughly 5%, this means that anything present in the mixture in a miniscule amount (by total composition) may be hard to identify. So, to help fill the gap, we use Immunoassay Strips that are highly sensitive for Fentanyl and Benzodiazepines and will catch the presence of anything that our FTIR may not detect.
If there’s any uncertainty and you would like a clearer explanation of the exact compounds in your drugs, we can have a small amount sent to one of our confirmatory laboratories for further analysis. This method of testing means you will not get your drugs back, and results will be available roughly 1-2 weeks from when we collect them.
After we analyze your sample, we discuss everything present in the drugs. We do this in a non-judgmental way focusing heavily on education.
Here is our FTIR Machine with a sample loaded onto the stage about to be processed
Here is the resultant spectrum (Mixture Analysis) from a different sample of ‘Down’. This specific sample had 35-40% Caffeine, 20-25% Fentanyl HCl, 20-25% Erythritol (a common Sugar found in dope), and 10-15% Bromazolam (a common Benzodiazepine added to samples of ‘Down’). All mixtures given in a 5% range because of the 5% detection limit of the FTIR.