Drug testing kits are becoming more commonly known about and in some places more widely accepted. But many do not agree with the idea of them, classing them as drug promotion. But what do they actually do? These kinds of kits are created to check the purity of certain drugs and also to check for adulterants within them. Every test may not do both so when considering their use, it is advisable to check what each individual test can actually do. Checking for these two things is incredibly important, as it lets the tester know exactly what they are planning to put into their body and with the high amount of adulterants around it is not uncommon for a drug sold as one thing to show up as another substance. Whilst the other substances (Adulterants) that show can sometimes be harmless and put there to add weight or texture, many can be harmful commonly resulting in illness or even death when taken into the body. Test kits should always be used when buying a substance for intended use, as they give an indication of whether the substance sold is legitimate, one thing to still be wary of is dosage levels as even the purest of drugs can have disastrous effects when too much is taken.

Currently for many drug testing kits will only be found in the comfort of someone's home, meaning if one is needed they are likely to be bought only for personal use. They are not utilised in any English streets, shops or even clubs where most drugs are taken. Meaning in these kinds of environments they are either used personally or not at all. As no fully endorsed scheme is running throughout the UK that actually utilises the help a drug test can bring they can be difficult to come across when out and about. The occasional university schemes run, usually set up by students to push drug education with a service that uses or gives out tests to the public or only fellow students for their own use. For legal reasons when these kinds of tests are used by these programmes that tablet or part of substance tested is usually disposed of once the tests have been completed.

So far the results of these tests and kinds of programmes has shown a trend that many people who use services for tests have shown a drop in use of drugs, some festivals in 2016 showed 1 in 5 people who tested their drugs changed their mind on taking them. This is because users who have had something bad found within their drugs become less likely to take them once they are made aware of the danger. They also meant that more people openly tested their drugs, as a service offering the kits made the idea of testing purity less risky when it comes to abiding by the law. Overall the use of kits and open speech about drug testing seems to have kept more people safe by stopping them from taking something they originally thought was something else.

Many may think, if these tests are keeping people safe with drug use, then why aren't they more widely accepted in the community and why aren't more programs running that facilitate them? The biggest reason would be British laws on drug use and possession, the UK’s drug laws are what stop many initiatives for drug safety being set up as they clash with what is legal. Many facilities such as clubs will not run the services in fear of breaking laws and being shut down. A large issue with these programmes is that testers have to handle the drugs, which leaves both the tester and the user of the service open to drug possession which is punishable under English law with a fine and even jail time. Another reason for the lack of testing and information is due to the fact that many people still do not agree with the use of drugs and feel prohibition is the way forward to preventing it, whilst others disagree it still seems that this view is held overall by the country.

It can be argued that regardless of law, drug use is common practice in today's society and effects of the lack of drug testing kits are nothing but negative. Many claim the stigma around drugs that stop these kinds of kits from being regulated fully leads to a lack of education and acts as a scare tactic stopping people from actually checking their substances, leading to unnecessary risks being taken by the users. The risk being that they are less likely to know what they are taking, whether it is pure or even what dosage they should be expecting to take. However, even though this lack of information may promote a lack of safety with drugs, it can be argued that the lack of information can actually put some people off taking drugs completely due the uncertainty. But many will still do so regardless due to the information available to them seeming inaccurate after watching friends take drugs with no harm done, meaning arguments for these kits use are still completely valid.

But what do you think about the way drugs are portrayed and the lack of availability of open drug testing? For further help with testing if you have used one of EZTest’s or another testing kit, substances can be sent away to labs for even more accurate results as personal testing kits have limitations. Professional labs can test more thoroughly and should be used if you are still unsure of a result from your personal test. It is good to note that similar to the few testing schemes available that these labs will commonly dispose of the samples you send in, but they can give a more precise view on what is in your drugs and how much or it there is.