The Use and Validation of Drug Screening Technologies in Night-Time Entertainment Districts

Abstract

Background: Throughout this investigation we sought to determine whether Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and Ion Trap mobility Spectrometry (ITMS) could provide a practical alternative in field-based research, where affordable drug screening is needed for comprehensive and on-going investigation.Methods: We conducted two studies and assessed three different research protocols to determine the most viable approach. In Protocol A we focused exclusively on harvesting analytes off breathalyser tubes and analysed these in a laboratory using an ion scanner (500DT Smith Detection Ion Scanner). In Protocol B we harvested analytes off a breathalyser tube and business card that had been handled by participants. Samples collected were again analysed in laboratory using various ion scanners (500DT Smith Detection; Hardened Mobile Trace; Biosens 600). In the second study (Protocol C), we harvested samples directly off participants in Queensland’s Nigh-Time Entertainment Districts and completed the analysis on-site and in-real time using the Itemizer 3.Findings: All samples analyzed off-site in Study 1 were found to be inconclusive. As such, Protocols A and B were not feasible for on-going drug screening and monitoring. Conversely, the results of Study 2 Protocol C demonstrated that harvesting samples directly off participants on-site and analysing these in-real time to be the preferred method. Our findings in Protocol C also show that the Itemizer3 was better at identifying those who did not use drugs from those who did. Looking at the incidence rates of admitted drug use in Studies 1 and 2, we find that simply having an objective measure present (irrespective of whether it is confirmational or not) likely resulted in us obtaining more truthful responses from participants about their use of drugs. Conclusions: In effect, our results demonstrate that there is practical utility in using ITMS to screen for drugs inside NEDs.