FTS Within Drug Checking Services

Before immunoassay strips became widely available, colorimetric reagent testing was the primary personal-use drug checking method. Organizations like DanceSafe — founded in 1998 and the oldest nonprofit drug checking kit manufacturer in the United States — popularized the use of Marquis, Mecke, Mandelin, and Simon\\

Raman spectroscopy is complementary to FTIR — it measures light scattered by molecular vibrations rather than light absorbed. Handheld Raman spectrometers are highly portable and can analyze samples through packaging without direct contact, an advantage for law enforcement and field applications. The first UK Home Office licensed pharmacist-led community drug checking service used handheld Raman spectroscopy, demonstrating its viability for harm reduction settings. However, comparative studies consistently show that portable FTIR outperforms portable Raman for drug checking due to lower limits of detection, less interference from fluorescent cutting agents, and better performance with complex street-drug mixtures.

Canada has built the most extensive FTIR-based drug checking infrastructure outside Europe. The BC Centre on Substance Use, in partnership with Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia, coordinates a provincial network of FTIR drug checking sites operating in all five British Columbia regional health authorities. This network analyzed 1,932 expected-methamphetamine samples in 2024 alone, finding methamphetamine confirmed by FTIR in 96.7 percent of cases. For opioid samples, the network tracked benzodiazepine contamination declining from 18.4 percent in early 2024 to approximately 13 percent by mid-year. BCCSU developed a machine-learning quantification model called Quant3, trained on FTIR spectra validated against Health Canada\\

Drug checking services operate through three primary delivery models, each with distinct advantages for different populations. Fixed-site services — the DIMS model in the Netherlands, DIZ in Zurich, Toronto\\

The economics of drug checking vary by orders of magnitude across technologies. At the personal-use tier, a Subcheck SC-1 fentanyl test strip costs $0.20. A Subcheck SC-X mechanical analyzer strip costs $0.85. Bulk fentanyl test strips from other manufacturers range from $0.49 to $1.00 per strip.

A 2022 systematic review by Maghsoudi and colleagues, published in Addiction, examined 90 studies on drug checking services and found consistent evidence that drug checking influences behavioral intentions and, to a lesser extent, enacted behavior — particularly when results are unexpected or reveal substances of concern. The most common behavioral responses to drug checking results include using a smaller dose, using with another person present, ensuring naloxone is available, testing a small amount before taking a full dose, avoiding a specific supplier, and in some cases disposing of the substance entirely. The behavioral response data is especially strong for FTS specifically. When a fentanyl test strip returns a positive result, people at supervised consumption sites and syringe service programs report using smaller test doses, switching to smoking rather than injection, alerting others about the batch, and seeking naloxone before proceeding.

The most effective drug checking programs do not rely on a single technology. They build tiered systems where FTS serve as the universal first screen, FTIR provides compositional analysis for samples flagged as concerning or for ongoing drug supply monitoring, and laboratory MS serves as the confirmatory backstop. British Columbia\\

Drug checking technology is advancing on multiple fronts. Machine-learning models like BCCSU\\