EZ-Test substance testing kit (Ecstasy pill tester)

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EZ Test [eztest.com]. It's a set of chemical solutions for testing substances. The reagents produce different reactions to different chemicals so you can test for Ecstasy (MDMA), methamphetamine, 2C-B, DXM etc. It's very useful to have around for testing pills, although personally I've never had any problems about this in Australia. MDMA pills are sold as MDMA pills and ketamine/speed pills are sold as such. It is useful to verify the contents of a pill though, so I usually use a Marquis reagent which I get at Off Ya Tree, a local headshop.

Inside the package is the EZ Test container and a booklet

That ran out some time ago and I found out that EZ Test has a Australian distributor [ez-test.com.au] which mails their substance testing kits cash on delivery, so I ordered a set from them. This is the EZ Test Xtreme, which has 4 different chemicals - the EZ Test (Marquis reagent), Simon's reagent, Robadope and the buffer solution. The Marquis reagent is probably the most well known for testing Ecstasy pills, but the other reagents compliment the Marquis solution to provide more comprehensive results. Hmm...I feel like I'm writing this for a report! :)

The EZ Test container - a closer look

Anyway, the Marquis reagent is able to detect MDxA type substances (eg MDMA, MDA, MDEA), amphetamines (speed), 2C-B (also called Nexus, pretty rare chemical), and DXM.

A peek inside the container

Simons's reagent is used to test for a "secondary amine", which to my limited chemistry knowledge means the substances that have a longer chemical name than usual. ;) These are things like methamphetamine (a methyl group added to -amphetamine), MDMA and so on. This one is good for testing meth, it won't react with amphetamines (primary amine), only with methamphetamines (secondary amine). Anyway, there isn't a burning need to have this around either, since most of the 'speed' sold in Australia is methamphetamine, or so I've heard. It's not that hard to subjectively differentiate meth and speed (I use speed to refer to amphetamine) when consumed anyway.

The 4 bottles of reagents

Robadope on the other hand does the opposite of what Simon's reagent does. Robadope is used to detect the presence of a primary amine (like amphetamine). Unfortunately, this test requires quite a lot of the substance to work. The instructions say at least 1/8th of a pill is needed to produce a reaction. That's quite wasteful, but it's interesting to have around, if only to test things at random. =D

EZ Test (Marquis reagent)

There is also the buffer solution, which I think (don't quote me on this) is used to speed up the reaction times. Either that, or it's the "missing link" that's needed for Simon's and Robadope to react, perhaps the solutions are not that stable and won't keep as long when combined. Again, I don't really know what the buffer is for, just that it's used with Simon's and Robadope but not Marquis.

Simon's reagent

The tests are done in sequence and by inference and extrapolation (just love this phrase), you can detect whether a pill/powder/capsule/whatever contains MDxA (MDMA, MDEA, MDA), methamphetamine, amphetamine, PMA, 2C-B, DXM, combinations (primary amine - secondary amine like a MDMA/amphetamine combo pill) and even heroin. Each reagent changes color when it's exposed to the recreational substances that it's able to detect.

Robadope

I don't know why I'm in a mood for writing something like this, but anyway. :) Here's an example, using the EZ Test kit on a dexamphetamine tablet. I had 2 pills left, which isn't enough to do anything, so I've left it lying around...until today! Today, I'm going to strike the fear of God into the little white pills. Or something. I'm tweaking again, verbal diarrhea and mindless chatter ahoy! =D

Buffer solution

Anyway, if you've read my posts, you'll know that I have a dexamphetamine script for my...ah, narcolepsy. ;) I can't stop with the wink wink nudge nudge every time I mention this, my apologies, I'm actually privately gloating about my script. Heh. Okay, enough silliness, sorry about that.

5 mg dexamphetamine tablets

Back on topic, dexamphetamine is a primary amine, from what I've read, amphetamine is a racemic mixture containing both the + and - isomers. Those are dextro and laevo and Collin's English Dictionary defines it as such:

racemic
adjective
(Chem) of, concerned with, or being a mixture of dextrorotatory and laevorotatory isomers in such proportions that the mixture has no optical activity
[ETYMOLOGY: 19th Century: from RACEME (as in racemic acid) + -IC]
racemism
noun

Anyway, the laevo (or levo) isomers of both amphetamine and methamphetamine isn't recreational compared to the dextro isomers. I don't know if this is true for all -amphetamines, but its true for (meth)amphetamine. The stuff you get off the street is a racemic mixture, so looking from a recreational perspective, it's inferior to dextro only isomers. In other words, pure dextro (meth)amphetamines will get you higher than a racemic mixture. Personally, I like dexamphetamine (dextroamphetamine sulfate) because it's much more stimulating that street speed (racemic amphetamine), but I'll take racemic methamphetamine over it any day! =D

Dextroamphetamine sulfate - our test subject

I digress. I suspect I'm boring half of you with the background information and insulting half of you by elaborating on things that you already know. Nevertheless, I shall continue. :) Oh, and you might have noticed that I don't use the word "drug" or "drugs". I dislike that term because of the negative connotations that's associated with it. I use the term "substances" and "chemicals" instead to refer to recreational compounds. Okay, instead of digressing again and again and being self indulgent, I'll continue to the tests.

Substance: 5 mg dexamphetamine pill (dextroamphetamine sulfate)

Dexamphetamine pill, crushed into powder

The pill is crushed up with a dog tag as if to prepare for insufflating (snorting). Half of the powder is used for the tests and the other half was, er...insufflated. The first test is done using the Marquis reagent. A small portion of the powder is isolated into a corner of a CD jewel case and two drops of the Marquis reagent is applied to it.

Test: Marquis Reagent

The pill's content is already known, so this is just a test for fun and to show how reagents work. The Marquis reagent will react by changing color to orange/brown when it detects amphetamine (speed). Let's see how it goes in the test.

Yellow as soon as it came into contact with the powdered dexamphetamine pill.

The color started to look orange after a couple of seconds.

It's noticeably orange now.

Yup, unmistakably orange. Indicates the presence of amphetamine (dexamphetamine = amphetamine).

The reaction settled to become a brown goo after a minute.

Marquis Reagent result: Orange, indicating either methamphetamine or amphetamine.

Test: Simon's Reagent

Two drops of Simon's reagent and 4 drops of the buffer solution is applied to another portion of the powdered dexamphetamine pill. This should turn blue if there is a secondary anime (methamphetamine) but it won't react if it's amphetamine (primary amine).

No reaction. The red drops are the reagents, accidentally dropped it outside the sample.

Simon's Reagent result: No reaction, ruling out methamphetamine. This indicates that it's amphetamine, from the positive result from the previous Marquis test.

Test: Robadope

There's actually no point in doing the Robadope, since the substance is already known from the two tests. Robadope is mainly used for testing for combinations eg MDMA/amphetamine combo pill. The Robadope will proceed nevertheless. :) The reaction will be reddish/purple if it detects a primary amine (like dexamphetamine).

I fudged up the first test by dropping too much Robadope on too little sample.

Slight salmon color.

The second attempt uses only a single drop of Robadope + 2 drops of buffer on quite a large sample.

Slight reddish tint. It is noticeable to the naked eye (if you squint really hard), but the colors translated poorly to the digicam. It wasn't the shade of red I expected, but that's probably because the sample was mostly binders + fillers instead of dexamphetamine. There's heaps of binders in a dex pill, which is why snorting is such a chore that I just eat them after heavy urinary alkalization.

Robadope result: Salmon red tint. This indicates a primary amine - dextroamphetamine.

This is how Ecstasy pill testers work - by cross-referencing reagent results. :)