Substances from unregulated drug markets – A retrospective data analysis of customer-provided samples from a decade of drug checking service in Zurich (Switzerland)

Original research
by
Magnolini, Raphael et al

Release Date

2023

Geography

Switzerland

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Yes

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

Unregulated drug markets lead to samples with unexpected and variable contents. A retrospective data analysis of Zurich's DCS was performed to determine the nature of these samples.

Findings/Key points

Chemical analysis reveals that over half of substances acquired from unregulated drug markets analyzed through DCS in Zurich are with low qualitative and quantitative properties, which may expose users to risks. Based on longitudinal analyses over a decade, this study contributes to the body of evidence that DCS may potentially manipulate unregulated drug markets towards providing better quality substances, as well as may stabilize these markets over time.

Design/methods

16,815 customer-provided psychoactive drug samples analyzed

Keywords

Drug checking