Drug users share tests as street supplies become less predictable

People who use drugs in Tampere are sharing at-home test kits to check whether street drugs contain substances they were not expecting, Yle reports. A mismatch can increase the risk of a fatal overdose.

Finnish users have become increasingly unsure whether drugs contain what sellers claim. In early September, a substance stolen from a veterinary clinic for euthanasia was reportedly sold as a sedative benzodiazepine, but was actually the dangerous drug pentobarbital. No deaths are known to have been linked to that batch. In January, the Nopsa network, which shares drug-related information, warned about pills sold as sedatives that contained an opioid.

Evelina, a 49-year-old Tampere resident who has used drugs since she was 20, says she once thought she had bought Subutex, which contains buprenorphine. The effects were unusually strong, and she suspects the substance may have contained fentanyl, a synthetic opioid much more potent than buprenorphine.

She says she was “completely out of it” for four hours after taking a small amount. The experience frightened her, she says, adding that she believes a slightly larger dose could have killed her.

Evelina is also concerned that amphetamine may be mixed with alpha-PVP, a much stronger drug. Annuska Dal Maso, a project manager at EHYT, a Finnish substance-use prevention organisation, says some people who wanted to use amphetamine have become dependent on alpha-PVP after taking it unknowingly.

According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, alpha-PVP was found in 76 drug-related deaths in Finland last year, more than in any previous year. A total of 224 people died from overdoses in the country last year.

Finland has no legal drug-checking service. Dal Maso says interpreting drug laws more flexibly could allow one to be established. She suggests adding drug-checking to supervised consumption facilities alongside existing low-threshold services. Surveys in other countries indicate that test results can affect whether someone uses a drug, she says.

Evelina and other drug users in Tampere have bought at-home drug tests, which are legally sold online, and are sharing them with others. Evelina also carries clean drug-use equipment to distribute and says she does not buy, sell or pass on drugs while helping people in the city.