Regina friendship centre testing street drugs as overdoses continue

The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre is testing samples of street drugs in Regina as part of its harm reduction.

The friendship centre’s harm reduction manager said they’ve acquired a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) machine from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and have received proper training in Vancouver on using it.

“We have a safe injection site here as well, and we do a lot of drugs and narcotics coming through the centre,” said Emile Gariepy.

Recently, they tested a down substance and the results came back 50-55 per cent caffeine, 20-25 per cent xylitol, 10-15 xylazine and 10-15 fentanyl. Xylazine is a dangerous animal tranquillizer that is used to “buff” opioids like fentanyl.

“With this last finding that we found, we found some fentanyl that was contaminated with xylazine, which is something that’s been slowly spreading its way down into Saskatchewan,” he said.

“We just recently had news that it was in Moose Jaw and we were kind of waiting for it to end up here. The fentanyl sample that I did test did come back positive for it…. If it’s in the wrong hands, it can kill people. And I think there has been a spike in deaths lately.”

The Regina Police Service (RPS) inspector who is in charge of gangs, drugs, firearms and property crimes said fentanyl and the opioid crisis is a big issue in the community.

“Illicit drugs are often mixed with unknown additives that we don’t know,” said RPS officer Cory Lindskog. “That’s the biggest risk with injecting any kind of illicit substances. You don’t know what exactly it is that you’re ingesting.”

The work that Newo Yotina Friendship Centre has been doing regarding testing street drugs is a step toward harm reduction.

“I think anything that would keep people safe and keep them alive … could potentially have an impact on our overdoses is a positive thing,” said Lindskog.

According to the Board of Police Commissioners report, there were 187 occurrences in March 2023. There have been 13 apparent deaths and police attended 33 incidents and have used Narcan four times.

Gariepy encourages residents to test their drugs before using to help prevent overdoses. He said people are welcome to get their drugs tested and have the option to remain anonymous.

“Everybody’s welcome to come down here to the judgment-free zone,” he said. “They’re welcome to drop off a sample at the front desk and then we can email or text or whatever. They can come pick up their results as well after they’re after we’re done doing it.”

The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority on creating drug alerts for the community of Regina.

1:37 Regina sees over 100 overdoses a month, says Board of Police Commissioners report