Street Drug Analysis: Factors Affecting the Detection and Identification of Emerging Substances
By The United States Government Accountability Office
Agencies at the federal, state, and local levels have facilities capable of analyzing emerging street drugs—psychoactive substances newly circulating in the drug market. For example, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have forensic laboratories that can analyze seized drugs and identify emerging substances. Current laboratory-based technologies can detect and identify emerging street drugs when appropriate methods (protocols) and reference standards are available. Portable technologies can detect drugs at the point of seizure but face accuracy challenges due, in part, to user error. Technology manufacturers told GAO they are developing more lay-friendly user interfaces and operational methods.
From fiscal year 2019 through 2024, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services awarded a combined total of about $12.5 million in grants for the development of new methods and technologies for analyzing emerging street drugs. New methods and technologies may make laboratory processes more consistent, among other enhancements. Method development can be done on faster timelines than technology development.
While new methods and technologies could enhance some capabilities, forensic scientists face key challenges with analyzing emerging street drugs, including:
Lack of resources. Laboratories GAO spoke to consistently referenced insufficient staffing and time.
Unstandardized reporting. According to stakeholders, varying reporting requirements at thestate and local levels can lead to gaps in data.
Limited information sharing. Law enforcement may not always share up-to-date information about emerging drugs with medical examiners and hospitals.
If these challenges could be addressed, laboratories could be in a better position to meet the nation’s needs for emerging drug analysis. However, GAO is not making recommendations to address these challenges because they are primarily faced by state and local laboratories.