Legal Protections & Program Safety

Our UCR Partner Lab has the appropriate DEA licenses to handle and test Class 1 illicit substances.

Drug checking is protected under California Assembly Bill 2136, which amended Health & Safety Code 11014.5 to exclude drug checking equipment from the definition of drug paraphernalia. AB 2136 also added sections 11300–11306 defining who can provide drug checking services and providing protections to both programs and participants. California Assembly Bill 2136 (LegiScan)

These protections allow us to:

Receive samples
Possess, transport, transfer, or store samples
Analyze samples
Share the results of analysis with the person who submitted it
Provide information and harm reduction services about using substances safely
Share publicly the results of analysis without identifying information
Arrange for verification from another lab
Purchase, transport, use drug checking equipment, etc.
Provide training on how to use drug checking equipment
Work with a local health officer, the State Department of Public Health, or a research institution for drug checking

Additionally, providing or using our services is not to be used as grounds for being subjected to:

Detention or arrest
Criminal prosecution, including violation or revocation of a grant of probation, parole, pretrial release, or any other form of community supervision
Civil, disciplinary, or administrative action
Forfeiture of property
Referral or transfer to, or detention or investigation for the purpose of referral or transfer to, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any immigration authority or joint law enforcement task force as those terms are defined in Section 7284.4 of the Government Code

The law limits how much personally identifiable information (PII) can be collected, what purpose it can be used for, and how long it can be kept. We do not collect any personally identifiable information.

Additional Precautions

Samples are placed in a sealed vial of propionitrile; this makes the sample difficult to render out and unusable in this form.

No personally identifiable data (PII) is collected. By using a unique ID and making results public, we help ensure that samples cannot be traced back to individuals.

We do not and will not work with law enforcement. The purpose of this program is to make our communities safer, and there is no way to safely work with organizations whose primary purpose is criminalization.