Substance users in Sudbury can now test drugs at safe consumption site

Starting this month, people who use, buy and sell drugs in Sudbury, Ont. will be able to access drug-checking services to get a better understanding of what they're consuming.

Sudbury's supervised sonsumption site has acquired a device called the Amplifi ID Drug Analysis System, which will produce real-time analysis of substances like fentanyl, carfentanil, benzodiazepines, xylazine, cocaine, methamphetamines and MDMA, among other substances.

Amber Fritz, the manager of the supervised consumption site, said this is a beneficial harm reduction tool to test the unregulated drug market.

"When consuming alcohol or cannabis, you know the potency and concentration of what you're consuming."

However, Fritz says that isn't the case with unregulated substances.

You don't have to be a technician or an engineer to know how to use this- Amber Fritz, manager of the supervised consumption site

"There's no ingredient list associated with the unregulated market," she tells CBC.

"So offering folks a drug checking option gives people a little bit more power and knowledge when it comes to what they're putting into their bodies"

Fritz said the device is intuitive and user-friendly

"You don't have to be a technician or an engineer to know how to use this," she said.

A new release from the Reseau Access Network says that only about 5 mg of a substance is needed to generate aresult.

Amplifi ID utilizes portable Raman spectroscopy and enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to detect unique scattered light signatures from samples. Due to the significant amount of information contained in the signatures, they have been named "molecular fingerprints".

The Amplifi ID software analyzes the portion of the drug being checked and compares the sample against a database of substances collected from physical drug samples.

This translates the 'fingerprints' of an unknown sample into a simple-to-read test result.

The free service will be available at The Spot, located at 24 Energy Court, behind Chris' Independent grocery store.

It will operate seven days a week between 10a.m. to 4p.m. and will remain open until8p.m. on Tuesdays.

Staff will be available on hand to explain the results and discuss possible risks.