Drug checking use and interest among people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada.

Background: Drug checking services (DCS) provide information on drug composition to inform consumption practices and monitor unregulated drug markets. We sought to identify correlates of recent informal DCS use (e.g.

Measurement of public health impacts of cannabis legalization in Canada to reflect policy maker priorities: A rapid scoping review of instruments and content domains.

Background: We were engaged by policy stakeholders to undertake a scoping review of cannabis measurement instruments to inform the evaluation of cannabis legalization impacts. We identified instruments employed in population-based or clinical research to screen and assess cannabis use, including measurement properties. We also identified the content domains included in each instrument and gaps in the measurement of key priority areas as established by policy stakeholders.

Diversity among health care leaders in Canada: a cross-sectional study of perceived gender and race.

Background: Diverse health care leadership teams may improve health care experiences and outcomes for patients. We sought to explore the race and gender of hospital and health ministry executives in Canada and compare their diversity with that of the populations they serve.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included leaders of Canada's largest hospitals and all provincial and territorial health ministries.

Diverse psychotropic substances detected in drug and drug administration equipment samples submitted to drug checking services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2019-April 2020.

Background: The overdose crisis has generated innovative harm reduction and drug market monitoring strategies. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a multi-site drug checking service (DCS) pilot project was launched in October 2019. The project provides people who use drugs with information on the chemical composition of their substances, thereby increasing their capacity to make more informed decisions about their drug use and avoid overdose.

Drug checking services for people who use drugs: a systematic review.

Background And Aims: Drug checking services provide people who use drugs with chemical analysis results of their drug samples while simultaneously monitoring the unregulated drug market. We sought to identify and synthesize literature on the following domains: (a) the influence of drug checking services on the behaviour of people who use drugs; (b) monitoring of drug markets by drug checking services; and (c) outcomes related to models of drug checking services.

Methods: Systematic review.

Xylazine detected in unregulated opioids and drug administration equipment in Toronto, Canada: clinical and social implications.

Background: The North American opioid overdose crisis is driven in large part by the presence of unknown psychoactive adulterants in the dynamic, unregulated drug supply. We herein report the first detection of the psychoactive veterinary compound xylazine in Toronto, the largest urban center in Canada, by the city's drug checking service.

Methods: Toronto's Drug Checking Service launched in October 2019.

Detection of synthetic cannabinoid adulteration in the unregulated drug supply in three Canadian settings.

Introduction: Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are increasingly being consumed worldwide, with synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic opioids being the second and third most commonly used NPS, respectively. Certain synthetic cannabinoids can produce significant harms, particularly when used with opioids. The objective of this study was to characterise the presence of synthetic cannabinoids in the unregulated drug supply in three Canadian settings METHODS: In the British Columbia setting, all samples were first analysed at point-of-care using combination Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and fentanyl immunoassay strips prior to confirmatory testing using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and/or liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS).

Impact evaluations of drug decriminalisation and legal regulation on drug use, health and social harms: a systematic review.

Objectives: To review the metrics and findings of studies evaluating effects of drug decriminalisation or legal regulation on drug availability, use or related health and social harms globally.

Design: Systematic review with narrative synthesis.

Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science and six additional databases for publications from 1 January 1970 through 4 October 2018.

Expanding access to diacetylmorphine and hydromorphone for people who use opioids in Canada.

The increasing incidence of fatal opioid overdose is a public health crisis in Canada. While buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone are the standard first-line of opioid substitution options, limitations, including difficulty achieving long-term retention for some people who use opioids, are well known. For this group, injectable diacetylmorphine or hydromorphone can achieve positive outcomes, including high retention rates, reduced use of unregulated opioids, and reduced criminal activity.

Harm Reduction: Front Line Public Health.

Drug use is a public health problem associated with high mortality and morbidity, and is often accompanied by suboptimal engagement in health care. Harm reduction is a pragmatic public health approach encompassing all goals of public health: improving health, social well-being, and quality of life. Harm reduction prioritizes improving the lives of people who use drugs in partnership with those served without a narrow focus on abstinence from drugs.