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As if heroin isn’t deadly enough, users must often be concerned with the purity of the drug itself.  Since everyone is looking to make a profit, drugs are often impure, sometimes “cut” with substances that combine for a deadly cocktail.  With this in mind Spanish scientists are working on a method of testing heroin for purity.  According to Sciencedaily.com

In the new study, Salvador Garrigues and colleagues point out that the purity of heroin can vary widely, since pushers often mix it with chalk, flour, or other “cutting agents.” Because heroin users do not know the exact purity of the drug, they are more at risk for overdose and even death.

The new method should be fast, non-destructive of the heroin itself, and easily carried out.  The method uses something called Diffuse Reflectance Near-Infrared Spectroscop, and basically involves shooting a beam of light through the heroin which in turn provides results as to content.  The device would not be available to drug users, but the general idea seems to be that seized drug samples will be tested and based on that information, knowledge about a tainted drug can be disseminated back through the drug community.  Personally it all sounds like an effort to make the government a drug overseer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, upon release, an ethical debate ensues.

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