PILL TESTING - Bonger Instituut

Security pills
Pills
In relative terms, ‘security pills’ (those confiscated in nightlife venues) were rather
more numerous than in other modalities, and in part they also appeared to reflect a
different market segment. About one in ten security pills contained no MDMA at all,
and the average MDMA content was somewhat lower too. The impression arises that
pills ‘from the nightlife scene’ are less strong.
Ecstasy users
No data is available about the ecstasy users from whom pills were confiscated.
Viability
Some delay in testing was incurred due to the required police procedures surrounding
the confiscated pills. However, partly on the basis of the experiences in this study
and the solutions we reached, we believe it would be no problem to expand DIMS to
include this testing variant elsewhere in the Netherlands. The testing of security pills
did not entail higher costs, but expansion nationwide can be expected to substantially
increase laboratory costs, initially at least, because of the greater numbers of pills
supplied for testing. In all probability, costs will decline after that.
Emergencies
One limitation of this modality is that nothing is known about the people from whom
security pills are confiscated. It would therefore be essential to at least keep accurate
records of which pills were confiscated in which venue, if rapid, effective warning
campaigns are to be launched that can target specific venues or nightlife areas.
Benefits and drawbacks
The table below schematically summarises the pros and cons of the three evaluated
testing modalities in comparison with the currently existing method of testing ecstasy
in an office on weekdays. Office-plus testing was found to have no real advantages
above the existing method, and the main drawback is the somewhat higher cost.
Both these modalities attract relatively small numbers of ecstasy users. The benefits
of testing pills in buses parked in nightlife areas lie mainly in the ability to reach a
more varied group of users. Compared to the existing approach, this variant probably
also makes more pills available for monitoring – including more previously unknown
types. It also offers added potential for conducting warning campaigns. Moreover, the
bus not only reaches testers, but also other ecstasy users who did not come to have
their ecstasy tested, and even nightlifers who do not take ecstasy. The main draw-
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