ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2019
Adulterants and altruism: A qualitative investigation of "drug checkers" in North America.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Drug checking services for people who use drugs: a systematic review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Pooled it
- Dialectical Processes of Health Framework as an Alternative to Social Determinants of Health Framework.American journal of public health · 2025Article
- Use of reagent test kits and fentanyl test strips among electronic music festival attendees in Colorado: prevalence, barriers, and behavior in response to drug checking.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Challenges and recommendations for overdose prevention and harm reduction in an era of fentanyl and xylazine: Perspectives of women with opioid use disorder and professionals.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2024Article
- Increases in the use of drug testing kits among nightclub and festival attendees in New York City who use ecstasy, 2017-2022.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Article
- Enhancing drug checking services for supply monitoring: perspectives on implementation in syringe service programs in the USA.Harm reduction journal · 2024Review
- A rapid review of current engagement strategies with people who use drugs in monitoring and reporting on substance use-related harms.Harm reduction journal · 2023Review
- Contextual factors affecting the implementation of drug checking for harm reduction: a scoping literature review from a North American perspective.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Prevalence of self-reported adverse effects associated with drug use among nightclub and festival attendees, 2019-2022.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- Potentially Identifying Variables Reported in 100 Qualitative Health Research Articles: Implications for Data Sharing and Secondary Analysis.Forum, qualitative social research · 2023Article
- Validated method for the analysis of 22 illicit drugs and their metabolites via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in illicit drug samples collected in Chicago, IL.Forensic chemistry (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2023Article
- Challenges for drug checking services in Scotland: a qualitative exploration of police perceptions.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- A Realist Review of How Community-Based Drug Checking Services Could Be Designed and Implemented to Promote Engagement of People Who Use Drugs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Trends in seizures of powders and pills containing illicit fentanyl in the United States, 2018 through 2021.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- A qualitative investigation exploring why dance festivals are risky environments for drug use and potential adverse outcomes.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Invited Commentary: Drug Checking for Novel Insights Into the Unregulated Drug Supply.American journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Potential Influences of the Darknet on Illicit Drug Diffusion.Current addiction reports · 2022Review
- Peer Support and Overdose Prevention Responses: A Systematic 'State-of-the-Art' Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Shifting awareness among electronic dance music party attendees that drugs may contain fentanyl or other adulterants.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- "I couldn't live with killing one of my friends or anybody": A rapid ethnographic study of drug sellers' use of drug checking.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
background"Drug checking" has become a common harm reduction method used to test illicit substances, such as ecstasy, for purity and/or the presence of adulterants. Formal drug-checking services have been operating for decades, and the use of personal reagent test kits appears to be relatively common; however, little attention has been devoted to understanding the role and broader experiences of 'drug-checkers' (i.e., people who test their own and/or other people's substances). As such, it remains unknown who is engaging in this practice, their motivations for drug-checking, and what barriers they may experience. We addressed this research gap by interviewing people who check drugs about their experiences, with a goal of better understanding drug checking practices.
methodsWe conducted in-depth interviews with 32 adults in North America who reported testing drugs. Coding was conducted in an inductive manner and thematic analysis was used to identify relevant themes.
resultsOver half (56.2%) of our sample was affiliated with a drug checking organization. Among non-affiliated checkers (43.8%), the majority (57.1%) tested for friends, 21.4% tested only for themselves, and 21.4% were people who sold drugs and tested for their clients. Motivations were driven largely by altruism, described by checkers as wanting to protect their peers from exposure to adulterants. People interviewed who sold drugs were altruistic in the same manner. Barriers to checking-particularly at nightclubs and festivals-included perceived illegality of test kits and denied approval to test drugs at venues, although many checkers circumvented this barrier by checking drugs without such approval.
conclusionsDrug checkers in North America seek to educate people who use drugs about the risk of exposure to unexpected substance types, but they face various barriers. Policy change could help ensure that these potentially life-saving services can be provided without fear of fines and/or criminal prosecution.
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Registered trials
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