Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 89
Concerns about false assurances from existing spiking testing kits for victims
Conclusion
We are pleased that the Home Office is planning a scientific review of testing kits but are concerned that in the meantime victims could get false assurances from such kits.
Government Response Summary
The government recognises the concern about test kits providing false assurances, stating no single kit covers all drugs and urges victims to contact police for forensic analysis, mentioning ongoing evaluations and a statutory review.
Paragraph Reference:
89
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government recognises the use of spiking test kits in various parts of the country, but we remain clear that there is no single test kit that reports to cover the number of drugs that have been identified as potential candidates for spiking. We therefore feel that an evaluation of pilots which only utilise non-lab-based test kits could provide potential victims with a false sense of security given the lack of any industry certification or validation to account for the efficacy of such test kits. We therefore urge anyone who suspect that they or someone around them have been spiked to contact the police in order to collect a sample for forensic analysis through an accredited testing capability, such as that established by law enforcement and forensic provider Eurofins. To date, this remains the only method which will provide certainty in sample analysis. We are currently aware of efforts within law enforcement to consider how local toxicology services can assist our response to spiking incidents. The results from this will form part of the statutory review of spiking. We are also aware of a limited evaluation being carried out over summer on a urine test kit utilised in some police forces. The project is likely to assess the kit’s efficacy in detecting a number of substances which have been identified as part of the Eurofins rapid testing capability.