Facts, not fear: Inside Mexico's pioneering drug harm reduction programs

Mexico City offered more than music, food and booze. Amidst the usual festival fare, a booth provided free, anonymous drug testing.

The initiative, known as «Checa tu Sustancia» (Check Your Substance), is one of several recent efforts by Mexican civil society to reduce risk among people taking drugs. Spearheaded by the Instituto RIA, a Mexico-based drug policy research and advocacy organization, it aims to address drug use from a public health and social justice perspective, rather than a security one.

In a well-lit corner of the festival, members of the Instituto RIA used reagents and laboratory porcelain plates to test substances that some of the partygoers planned to use and recorded the data. Their analysis uses color changes to indicate what's in the drug: It can reveal the presence of adulterants but not their exact proportion.

They also offered test strips that can detect the presence of fentanyl and nasal sprays of naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose.

Also available were informational flyers detailing the effects of various psychoactive substances and what to do to reduce the risks associated with using them, including simple but critical measures like staying hydrated and eating well.

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While some partygoers seemed wary of the initiative, others approached it with curiosity.

"(There is) amazement, but also a little bit of fear, because there is a whole context of criminalization," said social psychology student Jessica Reyes Moreno, 27, a volunteer with Checa tu Sustancia.

When unexpected substances are detected, users receive detailed information on what they are, about their risks, potential interactions with other substances and dosage adjustments, empowering