The opioid crisis continues to harm families and communities across the country. Between 2020 and 2021, opioid-related deaths rose by 15%, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A new project at Florida International University is working to arm police officers at the scene with field portable technology that can instantly and accurately identify opioids and other drugs, and provide prosecutors with reliable results to indict and convict illicit drug offenders or refer drug abusers to treatment options.
The Academic-based Drug Field Testing and Training Initiative is a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) program designed to train law enforcement officers to collect, preserve, and test illicit drugs in the field. Under the initiative, new analogs of fentanyl or opioids can be determined at the scene. The unique chemical signature of the drugs can be used to link drug dealers or manufacturers to overdoses and deaths.
Officer and public safety have been taken into consideration. Previous field technology required officers to be within arm's distance to the unknown substances to place into presumptive colorimetric tests. The technology used now is like a speed radar, a point-and-aim instrument that can detect the chemical composition of an unknown substance in seconds from up to six feet away.
During this hour-long session, attendees will be introduced to the technologies and implementation covered in the training.

Register for free at go.fiu.edu/seminarseries.