Fentanyl
Test everything you intend to consume.
We recommend using this method because it will give you the most information about your drugs.
Testing everything requires dissolving your entire dose or batch in water.
- For drugs you intend to take orally (by mouth), you can dissolve your dose, use the test strip, and then drink it. (The strips do not contaminate the water.)
- Dissolving your dose is a good move if you want to test your drugs right before taking them orally. (Ex: Testing your full dose of MDMA before taking it.)
- For drugs you intend to snort, like cocaine, you can get the powder back by evaporating the water. (See detailed instructions below.)
- Dissolving your entire batch is useful and efficient because you can test all of your doses at once, but you’ll need to take the time to evaporate the water before it’s usable.
Test a portion of your drugs
We recommend using the best method, but if you can’t, at least test a portion – the more of your sample you test, the more likely your test will be accurate.
We recommend testing at least 10 mg. You can test 50 mg for more information about your drugs. Or, in an absolute pinch, you can test the residue of your container, but this is the least accurate method.
- Before testing, crush everything into a fine powder. This is especially important with crystals, shards, or rocks.
- Next, mix the powder really well by stirring or the shaking the baggie.
- This will help distribute any fentanyl in there and increase the likelihood that some will be in the portion you test.
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Note on Spanish Version
Due to resource and staffing limitations, we have not had the opportunity to update the Spanish versions. However, these instructions still work. We will update these versions as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, you can email us.
Nota sobre la versión en español
Debido a limitaciones de recursos y personal, no hemos tenido la oportunidad de actualizar las versiones en español. Sin embargo, estas instrucciones siguen siendo válidas. Actualizaremos estas versiones tan pronto como podamos. Gracias por su paciencia. Si tienen preguntas, pueden enviarnos un correo electrónico.
View Quick Reference Chart (Spanish version)
Download Full Instructions (Spanish version)
Whether you are testing everything you intend to consume or a smaller portion of your drugs, you need to dilute the powder in the correct amount of water. Follow the instructions for each drug form carefully.
Open the tab and follow the instructions below for each type of drug.
1. Weigh your drugs.
Use a milligram scale to get the weight of the crystals or powder you are going to test. Write it down so you don’t forget. If you don’t have a milligram scale, you can use one of our 10 mg micro scoops.
A level scoop of finely crushed powder (not rounded) is approximately ten milligrams (available here).
2. Place your drugs into a small container.
- If you are testing 10 mg, a standard bottle cap from any 20 oz soda bottle works great.
- If you are testing more than 10 mg, use a larger cup or container.
You can use a micro scoop and a bottle cap to test a portion of your drugs. A standard plastic bottle cap holds approximately one teaspoon (5 ml) of water when almost full.
3. Add the right amount of water.
This step is very important.
FOR MOST DRUGS
Add one teaspoon of water (5 ml) for every 10 mg of powder.
(NOTE: Use proper measuring spoons, like those for baking.)
You can also use a 5 ml pipette to measure the water (available here).
FOR MDMA & METH
Add two teaspoons of water (10 ml) for every 10 mg of powder.
IMPORTANT: To reduce the likelihood of false positives, we recommend doubling the amount of water.
False positives are possible with any immunoassay or rapid screening tool. Although we originally created our test strips to avoid this, we have documented cases where MDMA nad meth has resulted in false positives.
ml = milliliter; tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon
**These volumes are not equivalent. They are approximations that serve to simplify the testing process. For example, 50 milliliters is actually 10.14 tsp, 3.38 tbsp, and 0.21 cup, however measuring these volumes precisely is difficult so we have simplified things to make things easier. These small changes in volume should not affect the accuracy of the test.
4. Stir the mixture until completely dissolved.
PROCEED TO STEP 2.
Counterfeit pharmaceutical pills can look exactly like real ones, but may contain fentanyl. There is no way to know whether illicitly-purchased pharmaceutical pills contain fentanyl without testing them first.
1. Crush the entire tablet into a fine powder.
2. Pour the powder into a small cup or container.
3. Add approximately 4 tablespoons (a quarter cup) of water.
4. Stir the mixture. The pill binder (holds the pill together) may not completely dissolve. That’s ok.
PROCEED TO STEP 2.
IMPORTANT: To reduce the likelihood of false positives, we recommend doubling the amount of water.
False positives are possible with any immunoassay or rapid screening tool. Although we originally created our test strips to avoid a false positive with ecstasy pills, we have documented cases where MDMA in ecstasy has resulted in false positives. Since you are testing the entire pill and our strips are very sensitive, this should not impact test strip accuracy.
1. Use the same steps above for testing pharmaceutical pills.
2. Use twice as much water (8 tablespoons, or a half cup).
PROCEED TO STEP 2.
1. Cut a small corner off the blotter.
2. Soak it in a teaspoon of water for 10 minutes.
PROCEED TO STEP 2.
If you are injecting your drugs, you should try to test every time you inject.
Method 1:
You can test your shot after preparing your solution and before pulling it up into the syringe.
Method 2:
You can also test residue from the cooker, spoon, or other container.
- After preparing your shot, set the syringe aside and wait to inject.
- Add about 1 ml (⅕ tsp or 1 cc) of clean water into the cooker, spoon, or other container.
PROCEED TO STEP 2.
After you have mixed your drugs in water using the instructions above, it’s time to use the strip.
1. Hold the yellow end of the test strip and insert the other end into the liquid.
2. Allow the liquid to travel up the strip into the test area for a full 15 seconds.
3. Remove the strip and set it down on a flat surface. Wait about 3 minutes.
Make sure you have waited 3 minutes before reading the result.
POSITIVE:
One red line closer to the yellow end of the strip is POSITIVE for fentanyl.
NEGATIVE:
Two red lines is NEGATIVE. The second line may be very faint.
IMPORTANT! Always wait the full three minutes before reading the result. Sometimes a very faint red line will initially appear in the lower area, then quickly fade away. Do NOT confuse this with a negative result.
INVALID:
No red lines or one red line closer to the dotted end means the test did not work and the result is INVALID. This may happen because the liquid did not travel far enough up the strip or the strip did not work properly.
Fentanyl strip testing does NOT destroy your drugs.
You can get your powder back by evaporating away the water. There are many ways to do this, but one of the most popular is to pour the water into a flat-bottomed glass or ceramic dish (like a Pyrex dish) and heat it in an oven. Other methods involve double boilers, air evaporation (for small quantities), or even blow methoddriers.
Oven Method:
- Put the pan or dish containing the water in the oven on a low temperature, no higher than 225* F (107* C).
- Keep the oven door cracked and keep a close eye on the pan or dish. This process can take minutes to hours depending on how much water you’re evaporating.
- When all the water has evaporated, a film/residue will appear on the bottom of the pan. Take the pan out and let it cool.
- This residue usually looks a bit like a think layer of ice or splotchy crystalline patterns.
- Scrape up the residue using a straight razor or other sharp tool.
- If it’s not fully dry, your powder might be a little tacky or goopy.
Don’t leave your drugs in the oven for too long after they’re dry. They won’t burn right away, but they will eventually. If your drugs weren’t brown to begin with, a tan or brown tint might mean that you’ve burned them.
Except for suicides, overdose deaths are always accidental. The word “overdose” has sometimes carried a moral judgment that the individual was “pushing their limits” in order to get as high as possible, as if it were their own fault.
This is not true. “Overdose” simply means taking too much of a drug, and it is always accidental. Even daily opioid users who know that fentanyl is in their product have no way of knowing the amount.
Instead of blaming others, let’s work together to end overdose deaths.
DISCLAIMERS:
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- No fentanyl test strip on the market can detect every fentanyl analog.
- Fentanyl test strips cannot tell you whether non-fentanyl synthetic opioids like isotonitazene.
A negative result does not guarantee that your drug sample is free from all synthetic opioids.
DanceSafe fentanyl test strips were created for drug checking and harm reduction purposes. We are committed to continuously developing and improving drug checking tools to meet the needs of our communities and respond to ongoing changes in the unregulated drug supply.
Our test strips are available on our website for both retail and wholesale purchases. (Wholesale customers need to register first.)
Test strips work by attaching a marker (antibody) to a part of the molecule to be detected. This allows test strips to be specific to our compound of interest (fentanyl and fentanyl analogues). Most test strips were designed to be used for urine, which makes them very sensitive and will pick it up even if it is present at extremely low amounts.
There are many brands of fentanyl test strips on the market today. Only recently have new test strips been developed for drug checking. We have partnered and collaborated with labs, researchers, harm reductionists, and test strip manufacturers to develop minimum performance and assessment standards for creating test strips for drug checking to ensure that people who use them will have accurate, reliable, powerful tools. We hope that working together, we can refine currently available tools and develop new ones in response to changes in the drug supply.
Just as with any test strip or other tools, our test strips have limitations.
False positives and negatives.
A false positive is when the test strip is positive, but the compound is not actually present, and a false negative is the opposite. This can happen from manufacturing variations between batches or because the antibody used attaches to parts of a molecule that are shared by different compounds. False positives and false negatives are possible with any tool, including test strips. We are acutely aware of the impact of these complications and are constantly evaluating our tools to make sure they are accurate and relevant.
To reduce the likelihood of getting a false positive or negative, we highly recommend using the Best Method of testing everything you intend to consume using the correct amount of water.
What to do if you suspect the test strip result is false?
Test it again!
You can use another test strip in the same solution you made. If possible, you can have it tested using more advanced laboratory technology. You can do this by submitting it to a publicly available service (see here), testing it at an event where we have an FTIR, or see if your local harm reduction program offers drug checking.
DanceSafe is proud to have our test strips manufactured by the US-based company WHPM, utilizing a novel antibody with high specificity to fentanyl and its analogs. We have verified this through field testing, a commissioned study at Kara Lynch’s lab at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and a research collaboration with Marya Lieberman’s lab at the University of Notre Dame (ND).
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we are committed to offering the lowest possible prices to the harm reduction community. Nonprofits and social service agencies can purchase them right now for bulk pricing.
Note: Institutions wanting to receive wholesale pricing need to register first.
