Interest of drug checking supply: Results of 3 years of activity in Geneva
Annales de Toxicologie Analytique September 1, 2022 M. Augsburger, J. Déglon, C. Widmer et al.
A drug checking facility in Geneva, Switzerland analyzed 883 samples from June 2019 to April 2022. Cocaine was the most common substance, detected in 33% of samples with a median purity of 75%; 11% of cocaine samples also contained levamisole and 11% caffeine. MDMA was found in 16% of samples, with powder purity at 85% and tablets containing a median of 133 mg. For 8% of samples, the detected substances did not match what consumers reported, and 3% contained no psychoactive substances. The facility reached consumers not yet connected to prevention services and detected two synthetic cannabinoids never before seen in Western Switzerland shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, demonstrating the value of drug checking for public health and harm reduction.