ANKORS recently posted a glimpse of their drug testing results to Facebook, with data taken from this past Shambhala in 2017. Nearly a dozen samples screened positive for fentanyl or another opioid. Fentanyl, known to be a powerful respiratory depressant, made headlines across the continent as the culprit for an outbreak of overdose related deaths, sparking an opioid crisis in British Columbia.
Other results ranged wildly from sugar to powerful chemical analogues. Of the provided results, ketamine was most likely to be something entirely different or cut with other substances. One testing of ketamine revealed an unknown substance that supposedly causes eight or more hour long highs, lack of sleep, and visuals. A different test revealed an asthma medication.
Some samples of ketamine tested positive for MDMA, while some samples of MDMA contained ketamine. Several instances had ketamine as MDMA and vice-versa. PMA was also in various test results. An expected 2C-B substance tested positively for PMA, and ANKORS added that PMA is “toxic in higher doses and can cause fatal hyperthermia. These drugs are NOT recreational substances.”
ANKORS said on Facebook that the insight reveals just how important it is to check your substances. As the festival’s primary harm reduction service they test drugs for more than 10,000 people.
What do you think of the results? Let us know in the comments!
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