Episode 292 | Just Increasing Access to Drug-Checking Services
Original Release Date: July 12, 2024
In episode four of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, Pharmacoepidemiologist and Senior Scientist in the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, and Erin Tracy, Research Chemist in the UNC injury Prevention Research Center, to discuss their unique approach to providing drug-checking services on a broad scale.
To address and prevent overdose deaths, it is crucial that local public health and harm reduction groups can check what substances are being used in a community, so that they can make informed decisions about local services, policy, and education. The UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab has made these important drug checking services more widely accessible by developing mail-in drug checking kits, which allow organizations to collect their own samples to submit for lab analysis and provide anonymized results back. Listen along as Dr. Dasgupta and Erin discuss types of drug checking technology, navigating the legal and logistical challenges of mailing street drug samples, and the positive impact of their drug checking program.
This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast season do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
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Episode Citation
Mullen, L., Dasgupta, N., & Tracy, E. (2024, July 12). Just Science. Just Increasing Access to Drug-Checking Services. [Audio podcast episode]. National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence. https://forensiccoe.org/podcast-2024-cossup-ep4/
Related Resources
Guest Biography
Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta is the first Gillings Innovation Fellow as well as Senior Scientist at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center. He holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the Gillings School. Dr. Dasgupta is a scientist and innovator with a passion for telling true stories about health with numbers. He specializes in translating research into practice. Since 2002, he has done pioneering work in pain management, opioid overdose prevention, and addiction treatment. He also has deep expertise in infectious disease surveillance, including data visualization design. Through his work, Dasgupta aims to amplify community and patient voices in public health and provide innovative health-tech and community-based solutions.
Erin Tracy has a master’s degree in forensic science from Virginia Commonwealth University. She started her career at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as a seized drug analyst before moving back to North Carolina to work at the Wake County Crime Lab. Erin joined the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab in 2022.