Best Practices of Testing

Fentanyl and Xylazine Test Strips

Demonstration Video

This video demonstrates how to utilize fentanyl and xylazine test strips. Please hover over the time bar on the bottom to jump to different sections of the demonstration video.

Materials Needed to Test

Substance that will be tested
Appropriate test strips – fentanyl or xylazine test strip
A clean container like a cup or a cooker
A microscoop or a penny to measure out the substance
Sterile or clean water and a teaspoon
A hard object like a spoon to crush pills or crystals
A timer

Prepare the Sample

To test the drug, it must be a fine powder.

If testing pills or a crystalized substance, it will need to be crushed into a fine powder.
To crush into a fine powder: Place the entire pill, or crystallized substance, on the piece of paper and fold it like an envelope to ensure none of the drug is lost in preparation. Using a hard object like a spoon, press the pill in the paper creating a loose powder.
Powdered drugs like heroin, fentanyl, ketamine and cocaine are ready for testing as is.

Once the drug is a fine powder, it is ready to be measured for testing.

Measure the Powdered Sample Using a Microscoop or a Penny

The drug sample should be measured in units of 10 mg for dilution.
For an exact measurement, microscoops that measure out 10 mg of powder are available for purchase at the same location that you can order drug test strips.
For an approximate measure 10 mg is approximately enough to cover Abraham Lincoln’s hair on a penny.
Place the measured powder in a clean container like a cooker, a bottlecap, or a cup to be used for testing.

Dilute the Powder

The most common cause of invalid or incorrect test results is using too much or too little water.

Fentanyl Test Strips:

When testing drugs like meth, ketamine, MDMA or crack cocaine for fentanyl it is important to use more water than with heroin or cocaine.
For meth, ketamine, MDMA or crack, use about 5ml or 1 teaspoon of water per 10mg of powder.
For other drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, use 2.5 ml or ½ teaspoon of water per 10mg of powder.

Xylazine test strips:

When testing with XTS use 10mg of powder per 1 teaspoon or 5ml of water. There is no need to use different dilution levels for different substances.
After dilution: Be sure to stir the water to dissolve.

Testing the Substance

Hold the drug test strip using the solid edge and place the wavy lined edge of the test strip into the diluted drug sample for at least 15 seconds.
Then lay the test strip on a flat surface. Read the test strip after about 2-5 minutes.

Interpreting Test Strips

After allowing the strip to develop for at least two minutes look at the indicator space in the middle of the test strip.

How to Read a Test Strip

Positive – fentanyl is detected

EXTREMLY HIGH RISK

Negative – fentanyl is not detected

Invalid – re-test with a new strip

Positive results: A single pink or red line closest to the solid side indicates that the tested substance, fentanyl or xylazine, has been detected in the drug sample. The safest option would be to completely discard the batch. Using it could be deadly.

Negative Results: Two pink lines indicate that the substance that was tested was not detected in the drug sample. Remember that no test is 100% accurate and the drug may still contain fentanyl or fentanyl analogs even if you receive a negative result.

Invalid Results: A single pink line on the right-hand side or no lines at all, indicates an invalid test. If you get an invalid result, test your drugs again using a new strip.

Quiz

Click the strip to "dip it" into your test solution.

How would you interpret this test strip shown above?

A. Positive, fentanyl was found in the sample
B. Negative, fentanyl was not found in the sample
C. Invalid, a new test is needed.

Why is One Line Positive?

Click on the strip to learn why.

The 1st line on the test strip is the control line, and the 2nd line on the test strip determines the positive/negative based on antibodies in the strip that compete with the potential presence of fentanyl molecules.

The test strip includes a 'dummy fentanyl molecule' that binds to antibodies at the second line, showing negative if there’s no fentanyl present.

When fentanyl is present, those antibodies prefer the real fentanyl and don’t bind at the second line — no line appears there, resulting in a single-line positive test. This is how lateral flow assays detect specific drugs.

All-in-one-Instructions

Measure at least 10 mg of powdered drug either using a microscoop if available or measuring out enough powder to cover the hair on Abraham Lincoln’s head on a penny, this is about equal to 10mg.
Place the powder in a clean container like a cooker or a cup.
When testing meth, ketamine, MDMA or crack for fentanyl, use about 5ml or 1 teaspoon of water per 10 mg of powder. For other drugs use 2.5 ml or ½ teaspoon of water per 10 mg of powder. If testing for xylazine, use 5 mL or 1 teaspoon of water per 10 mg of powder.
Stir the water to dissolve the powder fully.
Once the powder is dissolved insert the FTS or XTS to the wavy blue lines. Remember not to touch this end prior to use.

Keep the strip inserted for 15 seconds then remove and lay on a flat surface. Keep the strip flat for 2 minutes and then read the results.

Individuals can use the fully diluted substance after testing, therefore not wasting the diluted drugs.