Heroin Purity and Harm Reduction

Recognizing that humans have cultivated a relationship with psychoactive substances since our evolutionary dawn and, therefore, no prohibitive legislation will curb our appetites for them, I firmly believe that we should instead mitigate the harms associated with their use--the central tenet of 'harm reduction theory.' Thus, I am heartened to see that Spanish scientists are currently developing a faster, more efficient method for testing the purity of heroin samples, as the wide variability of heroin purity is one of the primary causes of overdose deaths.

"The scientists tested the samples using the new analytical method, called Diffuse Reflectance Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (DR-NIR). It involves shooting a beam of infrared light into a sample to determine its chemical composition based on the wavelength of light emitted."

Hopefully this technology will find use at safe injection sites and not go the way of MDMA pill testing under the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation (formerly RAVE) Act (brought to you by staunch drug warrior, Joe Biden-- who tacked it onto the bill which brought us the legitimate Amber Alert System after it failed twice as a stand-alone bill). In short, since the RAVE Act made concert promoters criminally liable for their patrons' on-site possession, promoters became hesitant to allow pill testing organizations like DanceSafe to allow testing on the premises, as it would amount to an implicit acknowledgement of concert-goers' illegal activities.