How the world’s oldest drug checking service makes high-risk pills “unsellable”
DIMS tests every kind of illicit drug, and shares its data—in aggregated form, so it’s not traceable to individuals—with the government
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Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
The Drugs Monitoring and Information System (DIMS) in the Netherlands can proudly claim to be the oldest drug checking service in the world. It began unauthorized operations back in 1989, a time when use of “club drugs” was increasing in the country, and was formalized in 1992. By 1999, it was receiving funding from national and local governments. Today, DIMS is operated by the Trimbos Institute, a government-funded agency, and runs over 30 offices around the country, serving tens of thousands of people every year. “Our 27 years of research and experience shows that there’s no sign of drug checking encouraging drug use at all. Most likely the opposite is true.”
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