This podcast is the fourth and final episode of the season focusing on community-based solutions for substance use challenges; it discusses a unique approach for public health and harm reduction groups to provide drug-checking services on a broad scale.
In this Just Science podcast episode, the host, Dr. Lawrence Mullen, discusses a method for public health and harm reduction groups to check what substances are being used in a community, so they may make informed decisions about local services, policy, and education. Podcast guests, Dr. Nabarum Dasgupta and Erin Tracy discuss several topic, including their backgrounds and what led them to their current positions as a pharmacoepidemiologist and research chemist, respectively, at the University of North Carolina (UNC); their unique approach to providing drug-checking services on a broad scale; the various types of drug-checking technology; how to navigate the legal and logistical challenges of mailing street-drug samples; and the positive impacts of their drug-checking program. They describe how the mail-in drug checking program works, what substances they are currently checking for, and some technologies used at UNC. They also discuss project funding and other challenges.