Theme: Models of Care Year: 2024
Background: In 2021 Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) passed the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Act 2021, the first country globally to legalise drug checking nationally. In 2022 Drug Injecting Services in Canterbury (DISC) Trust was funded to provide a drug checking program in needle exchanges in NZ, utilising their peer-based model.
The program’s objectives included increasing access to drug-checking for PWID / PWUD, thereby reducing drug related harm, including overdoses, adverse effects from adulterated and/or misrepresented illicit drugs, exposure to blood borne viruses, and stigma associated with drug use.
Description of program: A peer-based drug-checking program was established at multiple needle exchange sites across NZ, utilising fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Staff with lived experience of drug use, including injecting, were recruited to deliver regular drug-checking and harm reduction information. The program contributes data to NZ’s drug harm early warning system and participates in communities of practice with other NZ drug-checking providers, with a focus on the most vulnerable PWUD.
Effectiveness: Since establishment, the program has seen significant client growth. Fifty percent of attendees are accessing drug-checking for the first time, with up to twenty percent being PWID. Early detection of misrepresented substances has resulted in public health warnings and raised awareness of the importance of drug-checking and reduced harm for PWUD nationally.
Conclusion and next steps: The provision of a national, anonymous, peer-based, point of care drug-checking service for PWUD is a significant harm reduction intervention. It reduces harm through identifying substances, including misrepresented substances, and by providing harm reduction information, enabling PWUD to make informed choices about their drug use. Locating regular drug-checking clinics at needle exchanges ensures an empathic service, reduces the stigma associated with injecting and other drug consumption, and demonstrates the ability of peers in delivering an innovative public health program to a vulnerable population.