TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a drug checking service at a large scale electronic music festival in Portugal
AU - Valente, Helena
AU - Martins, Daniel
AU - Carvalho, Helena
AU - Pires, Cristiana Vale
AU - Carvalho, Maria Carmo
AU - Pinto, Marta
AU - Barratt, Monica J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Helena Valente is supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology , through a research grant with the reference PD/BD/135079/2017 supported by the European Social Fund and funds of the MCTES.
Funding Information:
The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre which is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Drug and Alcohol Program.
Funding Information:
Daniel Martins is supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology , through a research grant with the reference PD/BD/135122/2017 supported by the European Social Fund and funds of the MCTES.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/11
Y1 - 2019/11
N2 - Background: Drug checking services are being implemented in recreational settings across the world, however these projects are frequently accused of a lack of evidence concerning their impact on people who use drugs. This paper describes the implementation of a drug checking service at the Boom Festival 2016 and explores the impact of this service on its users’ behavioural intentions. Methods: 753 drug samples were submitted to the drug checking service for chemical analysis. All drug checking users were invited to fill a pre-analysis and a post-analysis questionnaire. 310 pre- and post-analysis questionnaires answered by users of the service were successfully matched. Results: When the test results were “unexpected” (N = 86), 94.3% of the service users reported that they would not to take the drug. When the test result indicated the sample contained “the expected substance plus adulterants” (N = 41) 32% of users stated they would not take it. When the test result was “only the expected substance” (N = 370), as anticipated, 98% of the participants reported they would take it. There was a statistically significant association between users’ behavioural intentions and drug‐checking result (χ2(2) = 350,042, p < .001). Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that providing drug checking services in large-scale festivals helps users to better manage their drug use and deal with drug adulteration. The data corroborates the supposition that when provided with objective information about the content of their drugs, some users consider health protecting behaviours. Additionally, these results can contribute to the design of tailored harm reduction interventions that take into consideration clients’ characteristics, profiles and motivations.
AB - Background: Drug checking services are being implemented in recreational settings across the world, however these projects are frequently accused of a lack of evidence concerning their impact on people who use drugs. This paper describes the implementation of a drug checking service at the Boom Festival 2016 and explores the impact of this service on its users’ behavioural intentions. Methods: 753 drug samples were submitted to the drug checking service for chemical analysis. All drug checking users were invited to fill a pre-analysis and a post-analysis questionnaire. 310 pre- and post-analysis questionnaires answered by users of the service were successfully matched. Results: When the test results were “unexpected” (N = 86), 94.3% of the service users reported that they would not to take the drug. When the test result indicated the sample contained “the expected substance plus adulterants” (N = 41) 32% of users stated they would not take it. When the test result was “only the expected substance” (N = 370), as anticipated, 98% of the participants reported they would take it. There was a statistically significant association between users’ behavioural intentions and drug‐checking result (χ2(2) = 350,042, p < .001). Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that providing drug checking services in large-scale festivals helps users to better manage their drug use and deal with drug adulteration. The data corroborates the supposition that when provided with objective information about the content of their drugs, some users consider health protecting behaviours. Additionally, these results can contribute to the design of tailored harm reduction interventions that take into consideration clients’ characteristics, profiles and motivations.
KW - Boom festival
KW - Drug checking
KW - Harm reduction
KW - Program evaluation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073704939&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.07.007
DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.07.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 31398488
AN - SCOPUS:85073704939
SN - 0955-3959
VL - 73
SP - 88
EP - 95
JO - International Journal of Drug Policy
JF - International Journal of Drug Policy
ER -