A Victoria pharmacist says tests are showing that fentanyl isn't just showing up in heroin anymore, it's now turning up in so-called "party drugs."
Testing has found fentanyl in mdma and ecstasy which creates a greater risk for recreational drug users who likes to "party" on the weekend.
Alain Vincent, Lead Pharmacist at STS Pain Pharmacy says his pharmacy has partnered with UVic to develop a handheld device that can tell whether your drugs are laced with fentanyl.
"The goal is to make the device as small as possible and as transportable as possible and to be able to be used by a non-scientific person, by a lay person and being able to give a yes or no result."
The device is a few months away from the prototype phase but Vincent says it will be able to learn and detect new drugs as they come on the market as well. "This is a smart device coupled to software who will become smarter and smarter as the device will be exposed to more and more sample. Our plan is to put the device in as many points as possible as soon as we get the prototype running maybe in a couple of months."
Vincent says it will be able to learn and detect new drugs like carfentanyl as they come on the market.