What is actually in speed?
This version has been translated from Polish and links to the relevant test kits have been added. In a life-threatening situation call 112. This article is informational and serves harm reduction. It does not encourage the use of psychoactive substances and does not replace medical advice.
Speed is usually amphetamine cut with caffeine, and there is more caffeine in it than most people expect. Of 478 samples submitted as amphetamine to European drug checking services, 88% contained something besides amphetamine, and caffeine turned up in 328 of them. The median amphetamine content across the 204 samples with a purity figure was 58%, so a little over half the powder is the drug and a good part of the rest is a stimulant you can buy in a supermarket.
Single-use amphetamine test, 3.65 EUR · Amphetamine and cuts kit, 26.53 EUR
What is in it
| Detected alongside amphetamine | Samples |
|---|---|
| Caffeine | 328 |
| DPIA | 34 |
| Unknown | 29 |
| 1-PEA | 28 |
| Methamphetamine | 27 |
| Phenethylamine | 13 |
| Ethylene glycol | 10 |
| Ketamine | 8 |
Two rows deserve attention beyond the caffeine. Methamphetamine in 27 samples is a different drug with a longer duration sold as the shorter one, which is the substitution the simon's reagent exists to catch. Ethylene glycol in 10 is antifreeze, present as a residue from the production process rather than as a deliberate cut, and it is toxic in its own right.
What the plate adds
Marquis, mecke and liebermann confirm amphetamine, and simon's separates amphetamine from methamphetamine, which is the substitution worth catching. Caffeine is inert to all of them, so it is the plate rather than the bottle that shows you the other 42%. Two questions, two tools, and the reagents answer the first one in a minute.
Single-use amphetamine test, 3.65 EUR · Amphetamine and cuts kit, 26.53 EUR · Amphetamine purity and identification, 98.1 EUR · How to detect caffeine
The test that answers the real question
TLC separates the sample and shows caffeine as its own spot, which is why the plate photo above settles in one look what six reagents cannot. Against a calibrated reference it also gives you a percentage, and amphetamine is one of the compounds the stimulant purity kit is built for.
Stimulant purity kit · Full purity kit · How a TLC test works
Questions?
What is the average purity of speed?
Median 58% across 204 lab-tested samples with a purity figure, and the rest is largely caffeine. No reagent shows caffeine, so the only way to see it at home is a TLC plate.
Why is caffeine added?
It is cheap, it is a stimulant, and no reagent shows it, so it survives the test most buyers run.
Can I tell caffeine by taste or feel?
No. That is the point of a plate.
What is DPIA?
A production impurity that turns up in amphetamine samples. It is in the library with the sources behind it.
Is methamphetamine in speed common?
27 samples in 478. Simon's is the reagent that separates the two.