How to test Heroin (Opioids)?

How to test Heroin (opioids): if you intend to use a psychoactive substance first you need a test kit to check purity. Pure heroin can’t be identified by appearance. Check your sample with a single or multi-use heroin test kit. 

Heroin tester

Single use heroin tester available with free shipping. This test gives the least amount of information and should be used with extra caution. Read about more advanced tools further down.

Recommended heroin testing kits

Recommended multi-use Heroin Reagent Test Kit includes reagents Marquis, Mecke, Froehde and fentanyl test strips. Reagents are required to identify heroin or other opioids, while fentanyl test kit is irreplacable to detect presene of fentanyl, even if mixed in and present in trace amounts. To discover full ingredients and estimate heroin % pair reagents with the Full TLC Purity Test Kit. To detect fentanyl use the fent strips.

STEP ONE How to identify heroin?

How to use reagent tests?

How to use reagent tests

Watch how to test heroin with reagents:

Watch how to test heroin with reagents:

TL;DR: Below is an image with a quick cheat sheet how to use the Heroin Test Kit and further down you can check out more detailed guide how to test heroin. Use the heroin reagent test chart to see how to use Marquis reagent, Mecke and Froehde. Check the expected results.

Heroin test results chart:

TEST Heroin
MARQUIS Reddish purple
MECKE Green-blue
MANDELIN Red > Dark brown
LIEBERMANN Purple / black
FROEHDE Purple red > black
EHRLICH No color change
HOFMANN No color change
SIMON’S No blue color change
ROBADOPE No pink color change
MORRIS Green
ZIMMERMANN No color change
CANNABIS (4-AP) No color change

 

All results are available in our booklet and app.

What are heroin test kit reagents used for?

SAMPLE RECOMMENDED HEROIN REAGENT TESTS
HEROIN / CODEINE / O-DSMT /
 2C-B /  MDMA / MDA / METH/AMPHETAMINE 

Reagent tests indicate presence of a substance, therefore can either help confirm presence of the expected compound or help rule out certain cuts.

  • Marquis – main test for most powders, secondary test for ketamine, mephedrone and psychedelics
  • Mecke – main test for most powders, secondary test for cocaine, ketamine and mephedrone
  • Froehde – main test for most powders, secondary test for ketamine and amphetamines, long shelf life
  • Single use heroin test kit includes Froehde reagent
  • Multi use heroin reagent test kit includes reagents Marquis, Mecke and Froehde

Froehde reagent is the main test for heroin as it can tell it apart from codeine. It should not be used alone, requires Marquis and Mecke to confrm presence of specific opioids.

Testing codeine with Marquis reagent, Mecke and Froehde

Negative heroin test kit results

Testing codeine with Marquis reagent, Mecke and Froehde

What is fentanyl?

Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opioid with derivatives often from 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin. It is mainly responsible for the opioid epidemic overdoses. Fentanyl can be lethal even in doses invisible to a bare eye. It is often found in counterfeit medicine, opioid and non-opioid research chemicals or even common street drugs like cocaine. 
When fentanyl is mixed with heroin, cocaine or other substances, it is never evenly mixed. Powder on one side of a baggy can contain no fentanyl, while powder from the other side might contain a lethal dose. It is extremely important to always test each and every dose intended for consumption.

Questions?

STEP TWO How to test heroin purity %?

To discover all adulterants and estimate quantity pair reagent tests with a TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) Purity Test Kit. TLC purity tests alone don’t identify substances and are best paired with at least 1-2 reagent tests. Thin Layer Chromatography is one of classic substance analysis methods. It works by separating different compounds depending on their solubility in chosen TLC testing liquid (eluent). To precisly estimate heroin purity pair a reagent test kit with the Full TLC Purity Test Kit.

How to test quality of heroin?

Qualitative TLC:

TLC test works by separating substances present in a sample, each detected spot indicates a different substance. 

  • You can use an already confirmed sample for reference – if both compounds show up at the same height on the TLC “card” that indicates they can be the same substance.
  • You can use any substance for reference after establishing their relation – if substance X shows up twice as high on the same testing “card” as substance Y, you can expect them to keep that ratio.
TLC Cocaine Purity Test

TLC Cocaine Purity Test quantity scale

Reference adjusted from 66% pure cocaine with coffeine and ethenzamide. Due to UV-C light photo might not display correctly.
tlc mdma do identyfikacji składu i testowania czystości

TLC MDMA Purity Test quantity scale

Reference results ranging from 10% up to 100%, adjusted from lab confirmed pure MDMA hydrochloride sample

How to test quality of heroin?

Semi-quantitative TLC:

TLC helps estimate quantity (quantity). The bigger the size of the detected spot, the bigger the amount of measured substance. Note that different substances need different calibrated rulers and often different testing liquids (eluents).

  • One spot indicates a pure substance. If your sample fully dissolved in testing liquid and only one spot was detected on TLC then your substance is pure. Trace amounts of impurities might not be detected, do not rely on TLC for fentanyl testing – get also fentanyl test strips.

How to use TLC purity tests?

TLC pictograms

Watch how to test heroin with TLC:

Pair with a reagent test kit to identify substances. Use both kits separately.

Watch how to test heroin with TLC:

Pair with a reagent test kit to identify substances. Use both kits separately.

Questions?

How to test heroin for fentanyl?

Use fentanyl test strips (a fentanyl test kit)

Fentanyl test strip instructions – how to use fentanyl test strips

METHOD 1   

If testing a benzo/opioid pill, crush one in a plastic baggie and dump out the powder.  Then add 10 drops of water into the baggie and mix well. Dip the test strip no higher than the thick line. Wait 15 seconds. Put the strip away and check in 5 minutes.

METHOD 2

Mix 100 mg of sample in 200 ml of water. Dip the test strip no higher than the thick line. Wait 15 seconds. Put the strip away and check in 5 minutes.

COMPARE RESULTS

1 line = fentanyl, 2 lines = no fentanyl. Faint lines also count. Ignore fentanyl tester results after 5 minutes.

To detect all ingredients and estimate their amount pair reagents with a TLC purity test kit.

No test result can tell you a substance is safe. No substance is 100% safe.This article is published for harm reduction purposes. It does not encourage the use of psychoactive substances and does not replace medical advice.

How to read the result

A positive result is a colour change resembling one shown in the instructions. It does NOT indicate quantity, purity or safety. Adulterants often do not react at all – try to detect them using different reagents. A negative result is a colour change that differs from the instructions: your sample is adulterated, discard it.

Harm reduction

There is no such thing as fully safe drug use, but harm reduction rules can help make psychoactive substances safer. Always do an “allergy test” – with a substance you do not know yet, start with 1/3 of a dose or less. Always use the smallest dose needed for the effect you want. Never share equipment, and do not use dirty objects such as banknotes (infection risk). Do not redose, at least not for 2-3 hours. Avoid mixing psychoactive substances.

What changed since this guide was written: nitazenes and xylazine

Reagent testing was designed around a supply that has since changed. Two additions matter more than anything a colour chart can show you, and neither is reliably detected by reagents.

  • Nitazenes (etazene and its analogues) are synthetic opioids now appearing in heroin, in counterfeit benzodiazepine pills and in samples sold as other substances entirely. Some are more potent than fentanyl. Reagents will not tell you they are there. Use nitazene test strips, and read How to detect nitazenes?
  • Xylazine is a veterinary sedative increasingly mixed into opioid supplies. It is not an opioid, so naloxone will not reverse its effects, though naloxone should still be given because xylazine is almost always found alongside an opioid. Use xylazine test strips, and read Test strips for xylazine.
  • Fentanyl remains the most important single check. Use fentanyl test strips.

All three can be checked with one product: Test Strips for Fentanyl, Nitazenes and Xylazine. Carry naloxone, never use alone, and start with a fraction of your usual amount when the source is new.