Presumptive Drug Testing

National Guidance

Notice:

This document has been made available through the Police Service of Scotland Freedom of Information Publication Scheme. It should not be utilised as guidance or instruction by any police officer or employee as it may have been redacted due to legal exemptions

Owning Department: Specialist Crime Division - OCCTU

Version Number: V1.00

Date Published: 06/06/2025

Contents

Presumptive Drug Testing	1

Notice:	1

1.	Introduction	3

2.	Presumptive Test Training	3

3.	Preparing For Presumptive Testing	4

4.	Presumptive Testing Procedure	7

5.	Recording Procedure	11

6.	Handling Of Dangerous Substances	11

7.	Further Considerations	12

8.	Key contacts	13

Compliance record	13

Version control table	13

Feedback	13

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to Officers on the presumptive testing (PT) of suspected controlled drugs.

The results of presumptive drug testing allows the following offences to be reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS):

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971:

Section 4(2)(a)	Produce

Section 4(3)(a)	Supply

Section 4(3)(b)	Concerned in the Supply

Section 5(2)	Possession

Section 5(3)	Possession with Intent to Supply

The document supports the following Police Service of Scotland policies and guidance documents:

Crime Investigation Policy

Drugs Investigation National Guidance

Presumptive Test Training

New recruits are trained in PT training at the Scottish Police College.

There are trained officers in all divisions who are responsible for providing any required refresher training. Refresher training is not mandatory.

All officers up to the rank of Inspector must complete a mandatory PT Moodle package to be fully trained in presumptive testing. The Moodle package explains the process of presumptive testing in detail.

On successful completion of the Moodle package the ‘Completed Training Packages’ section on Scope is automatically updated.

The PT Moodle training package is available here:

Presumptive Drug Testing Moodle Package

All Officers who conduct PT and those who corroborate the test must be trained in the process.

Preparing For Presumptive Testing

Prior to carrying out PT, Officers must ensure they have:

PT test kits for relevant suspected drug,

Working scales (See ‘scales’ section),

Personal protective equipment (PPE) (disposable gloves, masks and eye protection), and

A sterile area to carry out the test (clean surface or sheet of paper is sufficient).

Individual departments and policing teams are responsible for ensuring the availability of these items.

PT Test Kits

The only test kits that are approved for PT are the M.M.C. kits

The expiry date is on the rear of the kit.

Test kits are available for:

Diamorphine,

Cocaine,

‘Crack’ Cocaine,

Cannabis,

Cannabis Resin, and

MDMA (Ecstasy) in tablet form.

No other drugs can be presumptively tested.

Some test kits state that the following drugs can be tested:

Amphetamine,

Crystal Meth, and

Diazepam.

There is no agreed protocol in place for these drugs to be presumptively tested.

All suspected drugs which are not suitable for being presumptively tested, or following testing provide inconclusive results, require to be submitted for full examination to the SPA Forensic Gateway on a Forensic Examination Request (Form 068-001).

Scales

For larger quantities, scales capable of weighing kilogram units should be used. For smaller quantities the scales should be capable of weighing 0.1 gram units. They should be checked for accuracy using ‘check’ weights every time the scales are used.

If the difference between the check weight and scale output is greater than 5% the scales should not be used, and a replacement sought to ensure the integrity of the process.

Controlled drugs such as Cannabis or Cannabis Resin can easily be removed from packaging and weighed, however, should only be removed when there is no requirement to protect the forensic integrity of the outer package.

Drugs in powder form should not be decanted and should be weighed within any packaging they are recovered in to prevent loss of evidence. The weight recorded will include the weight of the packaging.

There will be occasions when large quantities of drugs are recovered, and there is not the facility to weigh them. In the first instance the weight should be approximated and thereafter liaison should take place with the Forensic Gateway for the drugs to be submitted to them and weighed.

Officers should record the following information:

Details of scales used during PT (serial number if available).

Details of the accuracy check process (check weights can be used for this purpose).

If drugs were removed from packaging.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Regardless of the circumstances in which drugs are recovered, Officers should ensure they use suitable PPE when handling the suspected controlled substance, to prevent any harmful substances being inhaled or ingested.

A minimum requirement for PPE is for nitrile gloves, disposable face mask (Type IIR) and eye protection (goggles) to be worn.

Any direct skin or eye contact with the contents of a PT kit must be avoided. If the crystals in the kit come into contact with the eyes, skin or clothes, the affected areas should be rinsed with water.

Disposable gloves should be changed between every PT performed, both between items in the same production and between productions in the same case.

Preparation

A clean environment is required with a sterile surface. A sheet of paper can be used for this purpose. Disinfectant wipes can be used to create a clean surface to place the sheet of paper on.

Cross contamination must be avoided when testing and PT must only be carried out using clean surfaces, scales, blades and spatulas. Disposable implements are preferred but if this is not possible, they should be wiped wiping down between each use including between items in the same production and between productions in the same cases.

Consider the forensic capture of fingerprints and DNA – This is another reason why fresh gloves, masks and eye protection should be worn.

(See Forensic Services packaging of Test Items)

Ideally the drug should be presumptively tested before it is properly sealed as a production. It is acknowledged this might not be possible in all cases.

It is best practice to record the steps taken.

Presumptive Testing Procedure

The PT kit expiry date is shown on the rear of the box. Check the kit is within date - they have expiry dates and normally last for 3 years. The test kit boxes must be checked to ensure that only the drug it is designed for is showing and that the correct kit is within it.

Record in a Police notebook or mobile device the weights of the different deals of the drug. It is important to provide a weight for the drugs and where possible the weight of the different types of deals i.e. 10 deals weighing 7 grams and 5 deals weighing 14 grams. This will allow a more accurate assessment of whether or not supply is involved in the case. Tablet numbers should be estimated as far as possible, there is no requirement to count large numbers of tablets however an estimate of the size of the recovery in some form is required.
Make sure that you know and understand what the PT result should look like. The correct colour change must be understood for each drug. The instruction leaflets within the PT kit boxes may assist the officer with testing and interpretation. Images of the correct colour change is provided later in this document and alternatively, the Moodle package provides a good reference point for this.

Do not open the kit until you are ready to use it in the correct environment.

Should there be an inconclusive result, a further PT can be conducted, which must be recorded.

In the event of a negative result, further tests should be avoided unless there is a valid reason for doing so. All PT results (including negative) must be recorded in a police notebook or mobile device and included in examination request forms (ERF) submitted to Forensic Services.

The testing kits should be disposed of within a sharps bin.

Drugs Suitable For PT

The following controlled drugs can be presumptively tested which allows Officers to submit a Standard Prosecution Report (SPR) to COPFS.

Cannabis (Herbal)

Cannabis (Resin)

Diamorphine

Ecstasy (tablets)

Cocaine (Powder)

‘Crack’ Cocaine (Rock)

These are the only drugs that can be reported on the basis of a PT.

Cannabis / Cannabis Resin

Prior to carrying out a PT, Officers must examine the item and confirm that it has the smell, appearance and texture of Cannabis or Cannabis resin. This is due to a small number of synthetic cannabinoids testing positive using the M.M.C test kit.

Should the item have the same general appearance, smell and texture of Cannabis / Cannabis resin then a PT can be carried out.

A positive result for Cannabis or Cannabis resin is identified by a colour change to red. Any negative or inconclusive result must go to the laboratory for analysis. A second PT test can be carried out, however this must be recorded along with the result.

Cannabis is the only controlled drug where the results of PT can be led in court with no further examination carried out by SPA Forensic Services.

The ampoule on the right of the image below shows what the correct colour change should look like:

Diamorphine (Heroin)

Officers should inspect the item prior to carrying out any test. Packaging is often an indication as to what it may contain. Heroin is not routinely packaged in large amounts and is often in single layer thin polythene food bags. Comments made by an accused should also be taken into account when making a decision.

There must be a full assessment before PT is carried out to avoid uncontrolled adulterants being tested and wrongly reported to COPFS as heroin. For example, paracetamol and caffeine mixed together, has a similar brown appearance which can be mistaken for Heroin. This type of adulterant may give a false positive PT result for Heroin.

If there is any ambiguity over a PT result the substance should be submitted for full examination to the SPA Forensic Gateway on a Forensic Examination Request (Form 068-001).

The correct positive PT result for Heroin is a colour change to purple:

Ecstasy / MDMA

The Ecstasy PT kit is for tablets only. PT should not be applied to any other form of MDMA, for example powders or crystals.

Ecstasy tablets come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours and often bear the logo or slogan of commonly found brands.

The correct positive PT result for ecstasy is a colour change to dark purple / almost black as shown below:

Cocaine / ‘Crack’ Cocaine

Cocaine Hydrochloride (powder) and ‘Crack’ Cocaine can be tested with the M.M.C test kit.

Officers should be aware that well compressed Cocaine is often mistaken for ‘Crack’ Cocaine, however, both can be tested with the same test kit. ‘Crack’ Cocaine is generally an off white colour with a solid waxy texture and does not crumble like compressed Cocaine Hydrochloride.

The correct positive PT result for cocaine and crack cocaine is a colour change to vivid blue as shown below:

Recording Procedure

Officers carrying out a PT must record the following information in their Police notebook or mobile device:

The drug suspected and why

Where was the PT conducted

When was the PT conducted

PT kit used (for which drug)

PT kit batch number

PT kit expiry date

Who carried out the test

Who corroborated the test

Result of the test

Colour change which indicated the positive result

Details of weighing procedure

Weight of the drugs

Handling Of Dangerous Substances

Should intelligence or enquiries suggest controlled drugs such as Fentanyl, Nitazenes or other highly potent substances are present, then the health and safety of Officers must take precedence.

If these substances are suspected they should not be presumptively tested.

The following documents provide guidance regarding the safe packaging and handling of Fentanyl, Fentanyl Related Substances and Metonitazene (Nitazenes).

Forensic Services packaging of Test Items

Fentanyl

Nitazenes

Careful consideration must be given to the health and safety implications of handling and ingesting these substances.

If these substances are suspected they should not be subject to presumptive testing and should be packaged as per Forensic Services packaging of Test Items.

These drugs should only ever be examined by scientists at the SPA Laboratory.

Further Considerations

In the event of multiple ‘deals’ being found which are visually similar in size, colour and texture, it may not always be practicable to test and weigh every ‘deal’.

Should the ‘deals’ be visually similar there is only a requirement to PT two of the ‘deals’, however, best practice dictates that all ‘deals’ should be weighed and recorded.

Should there be several hundred visually similar ‘deals’, then a small selection of these can be tested and weighed, clearly recording they are visually similar. There is no requirement to weigh every ‘deal’ in this scenario.

Officers should avoid disturbing any knots or folds in packaging where DNA or fingerprint evidence is likely to be best obtained. Piercing a small hole in the packaging away from any knots / folds and obtaining a sample is best practice and will maximise forensic opportunities.

Should there be any queries, contact the STOP Unit who will advise accordingly.

Key contacts

Information has been removed due to its content being exempt in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 Section 30, Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs.

Compliance record

EqHRIA completion/review date:	04/06/2025

Information Management Compliant:	Yes

Health and Safety Compliant:	Yes

Version control table

Version	History of amendments	Approval date
1.00	Initial Approved Version	05/05/2025

Feedback

All Police Scotland service delivery Policies, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and National Guidance are subject to regular reviews. It is important that user feedback is taken into account when documents are reviewed.

If any officer / staff member wishes to provide comment, or make suggestions for improvements to this or any associated document, a Service Delivery Policy and Procedure Feedback Form (Form 066-014) should be used.