The number of laboratories involved in drug checking activities has increased in recent years, yet little to no guidance, recommendations, or oversight has been established. The Laboratory-Based Drug Checking group of the Alliance for Collaborative Drug Checking (ACDC) recently initiated processes to aid laboratories interested in drug checking.
An important need was recognized to establish a minimum scope of testing (i.e., the substance all organizations performing laboratory-based drug testing must be able to test for). The Drug Checking Minimum Scope is intended for use by laboratories performing mass spectrometry-based drug analysis for public health, community drug checking, and harm reduction collaborators. This minimum scope will ease the burden on the laboratory when establishing drug testing capabilities, ensure confidence among submitters of samples for drug checking, and help create a path toward standardization of results and data curation.
This guidance was developed by scientists at University of North Carolina Street Drug Analysis Lab, the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education NPS Discovery, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Rapid Drug Analysis and Research program, and Remedy Alliance For the People.