3. Drug checking in DCRs in Switzerland: a new harm reduction tool?

In Switzerland, drug consumption rooms (DCRs) exist since 1986 and drug checking projects since 1998. Attempts to analyse substances used in DCRs date back to the early 1990’s but have never moved beyond the occasional analysis of suspicious drug samples.

In 2018, a pilot project was implemented in DCRs in Zürich and Basel. Users could provide a drug sample and get the result of its analysis several days later. The motivational intervention took place twice : at delivery of the drug sample and when providing the results of its analysis. DCR users and staff rated the intervention positively (Spiess et al, 2019). Zürich kept it but experienced subsequently some of its limitations.

A new project using a portable tool (NIRLab) providing immediate drug analysis results is in development in another part of the country. The use of such a tool raises new issues, for example on how to implement a harm reduction intervention when users are in a hurry and have no wish to discuss their behaviour. Immediate results might also lead to troubles, particularly in DCRs where small scale drug dealing is tolerated.

The presentation will review the lessons learned with the pilot project, present the new tool for drug checking in DCRs and the results of an ongoing national consultation on how to implement it

The presentation will review the lessons learned with the pilot project, present the new tool for drug checking in DCRs and the results of an ongoing national consultation on how to implement it