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From Amsterdam to the world: How much do you know about the history of drug testing?
Drug testing or pill testing is a way to reduce the harm of drug consumption by making users aware of the content and purity of the substance they intend to consume. This allows users to make safer choices: avoiding more dangerous substances, using smaller doses, and avoiding dangerous combinations. Drug testing services have been developed in 20 countries over the past 25 years and are being considered in others, although some countries face challenges in implementing such services due to local legal constraints.
Drug testing initially focused on MDMA users at electronic dance music events, but the service has been expanded as drug use has become more sophisticated.
These developments are strongly influenced by local laws and culture, resulting in a diverse range of service options, including mobile services for events and festivals as well as fixed services in city centres and entertainment districts. For example, staff may not be able to handle illegal substances, which limits the detection technology they use to having to operate within the law. The user provides a small sample (usually less than a dose) to the testing service, and test results may be provided immediately, a short time later, or at a later time. During this time, drug testing services discuss health risks and safe behaviors with users. They also provide public health information on drug use, new psychoactive substances, and national trends.
History
The earliest reported drug testing activity began in Amsterdam in November 1970, when a team from Amsterdam University Hospital tested samples obtained from psychiatrists working with drug users. The Drug Information and Monitoring System (DIMS) in the Netherlands is one of the oldest drug testing services and is supported by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Since 1992, the service has tested more than 100,000 drug samples across a national network of 23 testing facilities. Service users receive the results by phone or email within a week and the service publishes summary results describing the substances being used.
European countries have led the way in promoting drug testing services, with the establishment of Asociación Hegoak Elkartea in Spain in 1994, TechnoPlus in France in 1995 and Modus Fiesta in Belgium in 1996.
DanceSafe in the United States has provided agent testing and harm reduction advice since 1998. Recent services include Neutravel, founded in Italy in 2007, The Loop in the UK in 2013 and KnowYourStuffNZ in New Zealand in 2015, while Australia launched pill testing in 2018 after a successful trial. In 2008, Europe created the Trans-European Network for Drug Information (TEDI), a database that compiles information from multiple non-profit drug testing services in different European countries. On March 31, 2017, a coalition of medication safety organizations hosted the first International Drug Testing Day to raise awareness about safe medication use.
Different Methods of Drug Testing
Drug tests offered at events are known as front-end tests, which provide immediate and immediate results. At Portugal's BOOM festival, for example, drug testers were able to legally process samples. In some places, due to legal issues, it is impossible to process samples and customers must handle the substances to be tested themselves. The bond model would limit participants to directly providing samples, and testing could come from samples seized by police or event security or disposed of through drug giveaway boxes.
There is also mid-range testing, starting with The Loop in the UK, where testing is done on site but without face-to-face interaction with the public.
Static testing services provide testing services at fixed locations, usually in entertainment areas of cities. Such as Energy Control in Barcelona and DIMS in the Netherlands. User makes sample submissions at non-event locations and non-client parties. The diversity of drug detection technologies enables these services to play an important role in addressing emerging dangerous substances.
Technical Analysis of Drug Testing
Drug testing services currently use a variety of analytical techniques, including reagent testing, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Reagent tests use color-changing chemical indicators to show the presence of a specific drug. However, such tests only indicate the presence of a substance, do not guarantee the absence of contaminants or other substances, and may mislead the user.
According to recent studies, drug testing has been shown to be an effective way to reduce the harm of drug use by providing knowledge about safe use, limiting use, and helping users avoid the most dangerous substances.
As these technologies develop, the role of drug testing services will become increasingly important. However, the cultures and laws of different countries still pose their own challenges to the implementation of drug testing. As awareness of these services grows and the legal environment gradually improves, what new possibilities and challenges will drug testing face in the future?
