The Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) has procured 50 kinds of drug-testing devices ahead of the New Year’s Eve to conduct checks at farmhouses, pubs, resorts and other places where parties are being held to ‘curb drug menace.’ The kits have been distributed to the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda commissionerates.
"A device called Dräeger Drugcheck 3000 has been procured which can in minutes find out if a person has consumed drugs with a sample of their saliva,” Director of Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB), Sandeep Shandilya told Deccan Chronicle. An on-site urine testing equipment from Abbot, which will provide a comprehensive report about drug use, has also been procured. Another device, Thermostatic Handheld Narcotics Analyser will help pick up traces of drugs from objects in the vicinity. With this handheld drug detector, narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens and analgesics are eaCasily identified using lab-proven Raman spectroscopy.
The Dräeger device can check multiple substance classes including cocaine, cannabis, opiates, amphetamines, methamphetamines and Ketamine. The device has two components: an hygienic sample collector for obtaining a saliva sample, and a test cassette for the analysis. The test cassette contains the buffer liquid and a window with two test strips, which displays the control and test lines. The drug test itself is performed in three easy steps including swab taking, shaking test kit, brief incubation and start of test. A colour indicator on the swab disappears as soon as it has absorbed enough oral fluid for a test. Test results can be read when control lines appear in the window.
Reports said drug users would be sent to de-addiction camps and their parents informed if usage is confirmed. The TSNAB’s announcement regarding use of gadgets to identify drug use comes shortly after Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held a review meeting to address ‘drug menace’. The CM also held a meeting with the Excise Department to focus on controlling the transportation and availability of weed.
Revanth, during his padayatra before the state Assembly elections, had stated that “an entire generation of Telangana was losing their future due to addiction.”