History and Future of Harm Reduction in North Carolina: Pragmatism and Innovation

Dasgupta, Nabarun

doi:10.18043/ncm.83.4.257

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…While aggregate data can provide important information for supply-level monitoring, providing anonymous individual-level data can maximize benefits to individuals participating in drug checking programs. The dashboard (streetsafe.supply) developed and maintained by the Injury Prevention Research Center at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, which offers mail-based drug checking services, is one exemplar [ 48 ]. Each sample is assigned an anonymous ID, which individuals make note of prior to submission.…”

Section: Key Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing drug checking services for supply monitoring: perspectives on implementation in syringe service programs in the USA

Moon,

Whitehead,

Trinh

et al. 2024

Harm Reduct J

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Background Shifts in the US drug supply, including the proliferation of synthetic opioids and emergence of xylazine, have contributed to the worsening toll of the overdose epidemic. Drug checking services offer a critical intervention to promote agency among people who use drugs (PWUD) to reduce overdose risk. Current drug checking methods can be enhanced to contribute to supply-level monitoring in the USA, overcoming the selection bias associated with existing supply monitoring efforts and informing public health interventions. Methods As a group of analytical chemists, public health researchers, evaluators, and harm reductionists, we used a semi-structured guide to facilitate discussion of four different approaches for syringe service programs (SSPs) to offer drug checking services for supply-level monitoring. Using thematic analysis, we identified four key principles that SSPs should consider when implementing drug checking programs. Results A number of analytical methods exist for drug checking to contribute to supply-level monitoring. While there is likely not a one-size-fits-all approach, SSPs should prioritize methods that can (1) provide immediate utility to PWUD, (2) integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, (3) balance individual- and population-level data needs, and (4) attend to legal concerns for implementation and dissemination. Conclusions Enhancing drug checking methods for supply-level monitoring has the potential to detect emerging threats in the drug supply and reduce the toll of the worsening overdose epidemic.

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Section: Key Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing drug checking services for supply monitoring: perspectives on implementation in syringe service programs in the USA

Moon,

Whitehead,

Trinh

et al. 2024

Harm Reduct J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even as our society proclaims a desire to save lives from drug use and to reduce harm, people who use drugs face enormous stigma, which is a barrier to treatment and must be eliminated. In this issue, Nabarun Dasgupta shares that "[w]hat unites [us] across the spectrum is a genuine desire to improve the health of our state by reducing the substantial negative health and social consequences of drug use" [21]. Perhaps a greater issue is whether we will choose to take adequate and consistent action, as a state, to protect all people from the harmful impact of drugs.…”

Section: Overdose Deathsmentioning

confidence: 99%