The Crowdsourcing, Overdose and Drug Supply (CODS) project is a collaboration between Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Baltimore (funded through a partnership between the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CODS utilizes the STreet drug Alert System & Harm reduction (STASH ID), an email/website/print avenue for disseminating information about the street drug supply in New Haven.

CODS is designed to utilize an FTIR machine to test drug samples from people who use drugs in New Haven. FTIR stands for Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. The FTIR shines light at a substance to detect a compound's chemical fingerprint, or what different cuts are in the sample, for example, if there is fentanyl or sugar in the sample.

The testing program will provide preliminary FTIR, followed by confirmatory GC-MS results regarding potentially dangerous additives to the drug supply. GC_MS stands for gas chromatography-mas spectrometry and is a very accurate lab test.

As part of this research study, the results from the FTIR are shared by the STreet drug Alert System & Harm reduction (STASH ID) crowdsourcing platform (email, website and print). We are trying to find out if STASH ID alerts are an effective way to share drug test results and if the information changes the way people use drugs or serve people who use drugs.

Participation in this research study will involve receiving a weekly email with information about the recent drug testing results, as well as public health education about using drugs, and accessing local resources. You must be at least 18 years old to sign up for the emails.

You will receive a 5-minute online survey about your experience receiving drug testing results by email every 3 months. The survey is voluntary.

Anyone can sign up for the emails from STASH ID. This includes people who use drugs, a friend or family member of someone who uses drugs, a staff member of public health and safety agencies, or a member of the community. To sign up for the emails it is not required that you have submitted a sample, however, if you are interested you can talk to the staff at the Syringe Services Program at 270 Congress Avenue in New Haven and they will explain the process to you.

Although this study will not benefit you personally, we hope that the results will help to increase understanding of the effectiveness of sharing drug test results alerts. There is a possible risk of a loss of confidentiality. While we are not collecting your name or any personal information, you are sharing your email address/phone number. Your email/phone number will be stored in a protected online database. Only the researchers involved in this study and those responsible for research oversight will have access to the information you provide. Others who sign up for the email account will not be able to see your email/phone number.

Participation in this study is completely voluntary. If you have any questions about this study, contact the investigator, Dr. Frederick Altice at (203) 823-0743.

You may unsubscribe at any time here: unsubscribe. You may also call or text (203)- 823-0743 or email Natalie.Kil@yale.edu to be removed from the email list. Unsubscribing will not impact the services you receive at the New Haven Syringe Services Program or Community Health Care Van.

If you have questions about your rights as a research participant, or you would like to speak with someone other than the Principle Investigator or study team to discuss problems, concerns or questions, or to obtain information or offer suggestions, you can call the Yale Institutional Review Boards at (203) 785-4688 or email hrpp@yale.com

Additional information is available at https://your.yale.edu/research-support/human-research/research-participants/right-research-participant.