The government of Saskatchewan are making fentanyl and benzodiazepine drug checking strips available to the general public for home drug checking to help curb the number of overdose deaths in the province.

Take home strips are available in 30 locations in Saskatchewan.

A negative result on a test strip does not guarantee the substance is safe. Test strips only check if certain fentanyl or benzos compounds are present in the portion of the drugs tested.

The Ministry of Health is investing a record $458 million for mental health and addictions services in 2021-22, an increase of $23.4 million over last year’s budget. Of that investment, $2.6 million is specifically for harm reduction initiatives across the province, an increase of $1.4 million from last year.