PAPER<\/em><\/em> caught up with the brand\u2019s team amid the launch of its new test kits, which feature multiple test strips, water pouches, and mini spoons for safe dosing. All in, it’s an entirely new way to party safer, there not being another retail product quite like it. Ryan Weaver, Overdrive\u2019s creative and brand lead, told us: \u201cA lot of people are scared of this vertical \u2014 many still see it as highly stigmatized and most weren\u2019t willing to break from the usual ‘don\u2019t do drugs’ message. At the same, we were building a dope team internally that really embraced the vibe.\u201d When building the kit and Overdrive\u2019s mission of safer consumption practices, the team “had a clear vision for what we wanted to do and the references that we wanted to build from. We ended up being like ‘fuck it let\u2019s just get after it’ and just doing it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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As for the kit\u2019s design, Weaver says: \u201cWe\u2019re really focused on elements that already show up in party culture; cigarette packs, tiny spoons, etc., so that the product fits seamlessly into what people already carry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The idea of purchasing such kits through official channels is relatively unheard of, at least for those partying since the olden days \u2014 even the 2010s. Weaver says that currently, \u201cthe Fentanyl Test Strips are available on our website and Amazon, but we\u2019re planning to launch at physical retail soon.\u201d It\u2019s a big dream, but one carried on the back of founder Brian Bordainick\u2019s Starface acne patches, which have become so ubiquitous, it\u2019s almost hard to imagine a world without them. Bordainick tells PAPER<\/em>: \u201cOne of the biggest takeaways from co-founding Starface was the power of reframing how people interact with deeply personal issues.\u201d Like consumption, which Overdrive seeks to make safer, \u201cacne had always been treated as something to conceal or hide \u2014 a source of embarrassment \u2014 and Starface flipped that script by turning a ‘flaw’ into something fun, visible and even celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Those lessons fit right into Overdrive’s launch, Bordainick says. \u201cWe\u2019re applying that same lesson: it\u2019s not just about drug testing; it\u2019s about empowering people to take more control over their decisions without shame or stigma.\u201d Bordainick\u2019s ultimate goal, with the team, is to \u201cshift behavior and narrative \u2014 just like with Starface \u2014 creating a tool that makes drug safety feel approachable and even empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond that, Bordainick also feels that \u201cwith over 100,000 overdose deaths last year, the fentanyl crisis is one of the most dangerous threats facing this generation, and I saw an opportunity to make a real difference.\u201d Amy Emmerich, Interim General Manager, echoes this sentiment, telling PAPER<\/em> that Overdrive is \u201ccommitted\u201d to working with harm reduction activists in an increasingly contentious nationwide fight for harm reduction and safe consumption. \u201cTo start, we donate product to community-based organizations nationwide and also set aside 1% of net revenue to donate to partner organizations working on the ground in local communities,\u201d Emmerich says. Among those organizations is End Overdose, in Los Angeles, with 50 campuses nationwide and whose founder and CEO, Theo Krzywicki, sits on Overdrive\u2019s Advisory Council.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Of course, products like Overdrive\u2019s fentanyl testing kit might still be considered paraphernalia, so Emmerich adds that \u201cthese are potentially life saving tools and people in Texas, Iowa, North Dakota and Indiana don\u2019t have access to them. To put some pressure on the state governments, we ran some pretty in your face mobile digital billboards which traveled around state capitals calling out the states in which these laws still exist.\u201d In addition, the company donated test kits to organizations in the four states.<\/p>\n
Of their hopes for the product, Weaver says: \u201c15 years ago I had issues with cocaine and pills. When it came to hard shit like those substances, my need to push it and be immersive was dangerous. I think about how lucky I am that fentanyl wasn\u2019t around like it is now when I was using.\u201d Still, he adds: \u201cI hope that people use Overdrive to help them get through the time in their lives when they need something so they can come out on the other side.”<\/p>\n
In addition to fentanyl test kits, Overdrive has also launched a 3-in-1 drink spike defense test kit<\/a> \u2014 the first and only kit to detect all three of the most common drink-spiking drugs.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Photos courtesy of Overdrive<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Overdrive\u2019s new fentanyl test kit hopes to change the way we take care of ourselves,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1568,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/1568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demoslotrupiah.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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