SPOT

Student Powered Overdose-Detection Technology

If you or someone you know is planning to use drugs, it is critical to have a safety plan, like SPOT, in place.

The SPOT app is currently in development. Be sure to monitor our social media for updates!

How Does Drug Usage at UBC Affect Students?

Risk

Many drugs come from unregulated, tainted supplies, which put users at risk of fatality. It is impossible for users to identify a tainted supply until the drugs have been consumed, making accidental overdoses a severe threat to many.

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UBC's Action

UBC has implemented harm-reduction strategies, including making Naloxone kits available in residences. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.

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Heroin

Information: Overdose symptoms can include slowed or halted breathing, cyanosis (blue lips or nails), and loss of consciousness.
Concerns: Heroin is often mixed with fentanyl, increasing its potency and overdose risk.

Fentanyl

Information: Overdose symptoms include respiratory difficulties, constricted pupils, and rapid loss of consciousness.
Concerns: Fentanyl is extremely potent and often mixed with other substances like cocaine, benzodiazepines or marijuana.

Crack/Cocaine

Information: Overdose symptoms include seizures, intense paranoia and, after prolonged use, heart attacks.
Concerns: Cocaine is often laced with fentanyl and other substances, making its purity levels inconsistent.

Methamphetamine

Information: Overdose symptoms often include chest pain, hyperthermia, and aggressive or uncontrollable behaviour.
Concerns: Often cut with toxic chemicals or fentanyl, meth is highly addictive, and its effects can last hours, putting extreme strain on the heart.

MDMA

Information: Overdose symptoms include a rapid heartbeat, confusion, dehydration, or seizures.
Concerns:MDMA pills are often cut with other substances like amphetamines or synthetic hallucinogens, making supplies unpredictable.

Benzodiazepines

Information: Overdose symptoms include confusion, slow or difficult breathing, reduced reflexes, and loss of consciousness or comas.
Concerns: Overdose risk increases significantly when benzodiazepines are mixed with other depressants like alcohol or opioids.

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What is SPOT?

Purpose

SPOT connects students using drugs with trained volunteers, offering real-time support and monitoring.

Goal

Our goal is to reduce the crucial time period between an overdose detection and an overdose response.

Disclaimer

SPOT is not focused on preventing drug use; we aim to make drug usage a safer experience and provide callers with a safety net in the case of an overdose.

Our Mission

The detection of an overdose is just as important as the response. Overdoses become fatal when there is no detection system in place. This is especially relevant in the context of a university community, where students are confined to locked dorm rooms and stigma surrounding the use of drugs is pervasive.

SPOT is a texting platform designed to function as an overdose detection tool for the UBC community. This platform will serve as a mutual-aid platform for drug spotting: our mission will be to connect students using drugs with essential services in the event of an overdose.

A network of volunteers will monitor conversations and enact response plans in the event that the caller becomes non-responsive. This detection will alert emergency services and reduce the crucial time period between detection and response to an overdose. We hope that bringing this technology to campus will help support safer drug-use practices. It is our responsibility to recognize the drug crisis affecting our community, and it is our ability to reduce the harm.