'I Wanna Know What I'm Putting in My Body': Perceptions of Drug Checking Services and Supply Information Among People...

Drug checking services are emerging in the United States as a response to the rapidly changing drug supply. To inform the expansion of these services, it is critical to understand people who use drugs' perceptions of these programs and technologies. We explored perceptions of multiple drug checking technologies and supply communication among people who use drugs in Rhode Island.

Data were collected as part of a community-based, mixed-methods study assessing the local drug supply. This analysis focuses on follow-up qualitative interviews conducted from December 2022 to March 2023 with a subset (n = 25) of baseline participants. Data were analysed drawing on theories of situated rationality and the intersectional risk environment to examine implementation considerations for drug checking services and the communication of drug supply information.

While participants described how varying degrees of structural vulnerability created barriers to using currently available drug checking technologies, many expressed an interest in learning more about the supply and utilising community-based drug checking programs. Importantly, despite this interest, participants described how structural constraints hinder the utility of these services, highlighting barriers to use like supply and time requirements, location and criminalisation. Participants further described existing efforts to communicate supply information through peer-to-peer dissemination and bidirectional communication between buyers and sellers.

It is imperative that, beyond supporting and expanding drug checking services, we support interventions that address the structural constraints that impede the accessibility and utility of these services.