Interior Health is urging those in Revelstoke and the surrounding areas to get their drugs tested before use following a drug alert for MDMA tablets with high levels of PMMA mixed in.
PMMA, clinically known as para-methoxymethamphetamine, can increase nausea, vomiting, overheating and overdose deaths when mixed with MDMA. Recently tested Ecstasy tablets showed elevated levels of PMMA, prompting the alert Tuesday, Nov. 4.
“The drug supply is ever-changing and unpredictable, so the only thing that we can safely do is test the drugs to know what is in them,” Antoine Marcheterre, Interior Health drug checking lead told Revelstoke Mountaineer.
Naloxone is not effective in reversing PMMA reactions, and the first step in the case of any adverse reaction is to call emergency services and stay with the individual until help arrives, Marcheterre said.
While Interior Health does not collect data on where tested drugs have been purchased and used, Marcheterre advises everyone to test substances no matter where they were bought. Oftentimes, tested samples show drugs mislabeled or highly mixed with other substances.
“People have told us they purchased their drugs online, it comes in a package that says they were tested for quality. Quite often though, it actually comes out not testing as they were labeled as,” he said.
Fentanyl test strips are available at the Queen Victoria hospital and harm reduction supplies are offered at Community Connections Revelstoke Society’s outreach centre, but there are currently no on-site drug testing services in Revelstoke.
“Revelstoke is not really the place where we can provide a full-time service, but arrangements for pop-up services can be made if there is a demand and structure for it,” he said, encouraging residents to reach out to Interior Health’s drug checking resources to inform what is needed for future resources.
Users needing to test before using can connect with BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services to send a sample to Vernon for testing. Contact 310-6478 or 250-814-8599 to coordinate a sample pick-up.
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