Fentanyl Testing Strips
READ THIS FIRST! —> This page contains all the instructions for using the strips. Please read everything on this page twice before using the strips. It is important you understand what fentanyl is, why it is so dangerous, and the limitations of the strips. USING THESE STRIPS DOES NOT GUARANTEE SAFETY! No drug use is 100% safe!
What is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl and various fentanyl analogs are highly potent synthetic opioids between fifty and hundreds of times stronger than heroin. Since 2013 they have killed hundreds of thousands of people in North America alone. Accidentally ingesting fentanyl-laced heroin, cocaine, meth and other drugs—including counterfeit pharmaceutical pills—is the single greatest risk facing people who use drugs today.
* Note: The term “fentanyl” refers to fentanyl itself, as well as numerous analogs such as acetyl-fentanyl, furanyl-fentanyl, carfentanil, and others. Some analogs, such as carfentanil, are so strong that a fatal dose may be invisible to the naked eye.
Fatal doses: Fentanyl and its analogs are so powerful a fatal dose may be invisible to the naked eye.
About Our Testing Strips
If used correctly, DanceSafe’s fentanyl testing strips can detect fentanyl and most of its known analogs, including carfentanil. However, they cannot detect all of them. A negative result, therefore, does not guarantee your drug sample is free from all synthetic opiods.
Our strips have been verified to positively identify the following drugs:
Fentanyl • Butyryl-fentanyl • Tetrahydrofuran fentanyl• Acrylfentanyl • Cyclopropylfentanyl• Acetylfentanyl • 3-Methylfentanyl • Carfentanil • Sufentanil • β-OH-thiofentanyl • Furanylfentanyl • p-Flourofentanyl • Flouroisobutyryfentanyl
WARNING! Fentanyl test strips from other sources may not work the same, and some may not work at all. We conducted an independent study in conjunction with the University of California assessing a variety of strips sold on the market. Out of five different strips we tested, four could not detect carfentanil, and one set of strips from a Chinese manufacturer did not work at all! For media and other inquires about our fentanyl test strip study, please contact Emanuel Sferios.
INSTRUCTIONS
(Click the image below for a hi-res PDF of the instructions, or click here. Last updated October 2020.)
The Most Important Thing to Know About Fentanyl
When fentanyl (or a fentanyl analog) is mixed with heroin, cocaine or other drugs, it is NEVER mixed evenly. Powder from one side of a baggie (or on the edge of a pressed tablet) may contain no fentanyl at all, yet powder from the other side may contain a fatal dose. This is called the “chocolate chip cookie effect” and is why it is important to test every bit of the drug you intend to consume!
Testing heroin and other injected drugs
If you inject heroin or other drugs, you should test every time you inject. The best method is to test the residue from your spoon or cooker.
After preparing your shot, set the needle aside and wait to inject.
Add about 1 milliliter (about 1/4 of a teaspoon) of clean water into the spoon or cooker.
Hold the blue end of the test strip and insert the other end into the liquid.
Allow the liquid to travel up the strip into the test area. (This takes less than 30 seconds.)
Set the strip down on a flat surface and wait about two minutes. See “Interpreting the results” below.
Testing cocaine and other non-injected drugs
Method #1 – Testing Everything You Intend to Consume
The best method is to test every bit you intend to consume. This requires dissolving you entire dose in water, which means you will need to drink your dose if you decide to take it. For drugs like cocaine or meth that many people like to insufflate (snort), drinking it will still work. It will take longer to feel the effects, but they will last longer.
Place all of the drug you intend to consume into a small glass. (For pressed tablets, first crush them into a powder.)
Add water
• If you are testing methamphetamine or MDMA, add one teaspoon of water (about 5ml) for each 10mg of crystal or powder. It is important to get this ratio correct because meth and MDMA give false positives if they are too concentrated. Specifically, you need to dilute down to about 2mg/ml, but not too much more than that. This is about one teaspoon for every 10mg. This method will avoid false positives yet still be able to detect a fatal dose of fentanyl, carfentanil and most other fentanyl analogs. (This will not work for pressed ecstasy tablets because there is no way to determine how much binder material versus actual MDMA is in the tablet. Therefore, with pressed ecstasy tablets there is always a risk of inaccurate results.) Note: If you do not own a milligram scale, you can purchase 10mg micro scoops from our website.
• If you are testing cocaine or any drug other than methamphetamine or MDMA, add two teaspoons of water per 100mg of powder. This is approximately 10mg/ml. This is an ideal dilution to detect fentanyl and most of its analogs in powdered drugs.Stir the contents until it is thoroughly dissolved. (Binder material in tablets may not dissolve. That’s ok.)
Hold the blue end of the test strip and insert the other end into the liquid, no higher than the blue line.
Allow the liquid to travel up the strip into the test area. (This takes less than 30 seconds.)
Set the strip down on a flat surface and wait about two minutes. See “Interpreting the results” below.
Method #2 – Testing the residue inside your baggie.
CAUTION! This is NOT the recommended method for testing. The best method is to test every bit you intend to consume. However, some people may not be willing to dissolve their entire dose of drugs in water every time they partake. In that case, the next best method is to test the residue stuck to the inside of the baggie the drugs came in. This method may not detect fentanyl due to the chocolate chip cookie effect, but it is better than not testing at all.
Empty the powder or crystals inside your baggie onto a plate and crush them into the finest powder possible. (You can use the bottom of a metal spoon for crushing. A straight razor blade is best for fine chopping.) Now put the powder back in the baggie, seal it and shake it well, then open it and dump the powder back out again. Now you should have a baggie with well-distributed residue stuck to the inside walls.
Put about half a teaspoon of water into the baggie and swish it around to dissolve the residue (Half a teaspoon is about 2.5ml.)
• Note: If you are testing methamphetamine or MDMA, depending on how much is stuck to the inside of the baggie, you may need to use a full teaspoon of water. For these two drugs, you want the dilution to be approximately 2mg/ml, because if it is more concentrated than that you may get a false positive. Be careful not to dilute it too much, though, because then the strips may not be able to detect the fentanyl. If we assume there is at most 10mg of residue stuck to the inside walls of the baggie, then one teaspoon of water (about 5ml) is the proper amount.Hold the blue end of the test strip and insert the other end into the liquid.
Allow the liquid to travel up the strip into the test area. (This takes less than 30 seconds.)
Set the strip down on a flat surface and wait about two minutes. See “Interpreting the results” below.
Interpreting the results
One red line on top is a POSITIVE result for the presence of fentanyl or one of its analogs. Two red lines is a NEGATIVE result. No red lines (or one red line on the bottom) means the test is invalid. (Usually this happens because the liquid did not travel far enough up the testing strip.)
Disclaimer: DanceSafe’s fentanyl test strips are provided for harm reduction use only. They cannot detect every fentanyl analog, nor can they detect other synthetic opiates. A negative test result does not mean a sample is safe to consume. No drug use is 100% safe. All drug use contains inherent risks.
Here is the link to purchase Fentanyl test strips from Dancesafe: https://dancesafe.org/product/fentanyl-test-strips-single-strip-free-shipping/
If you live within the state of Montana and would like CAIRN to ship you a fentanyl strip free of charge, e-mail us at CAIRNmontana@gmail.com
Photo and information courtesy of Dancesafe: https://dancesafe.org/product/fentanyl-test-strips-single-strip-free-shipping/