Drug testing kits can provide valuable information, but only when results are interpreted correctly.
Developed by experts at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science. This informative self-paced CPD course will help you gain the knowledge and skills needed to implement drug testing strips responsibly. Through interactive learning activities and real-world examples, participants will explore testing procedures, result interpretation, validation, cross-reactivity, and reliability considerations.
Whether you work in substance use services, healthcare, community outreach, education, or public health, this course will help you make informed, evidence-based decisions when using drug testing kits.
Key areas include:
- Principles of drug testing strip technology
- Safe and accurate testing procedures
- Understanding and interpreting results
- Cut-off levels and detection thresholds
- Cross-reactivity and potential limitations
- Validation and result reliability
By the end of the course, you will understand the role and principles of drug test strips, from their practical application and interpretation to their validation and responsible use within harm reduction settings.
Duration: 6 hours self-paced CPD course.
Assessment: 30-question final assessment.
Award: Digital certificate and badge upon successful completion.
AI Transparency Notice: Some content within this course was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. All AI-generated content has been reviewed and quality assured by subject matter experts prior to release. This disclosure is provided in line with the transparency principles of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).
Meet the Experts
Dr Lorna Nisbet
Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator
Dr Lorna Nisbet is the Principal Investigator for Forensic Toxicology at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS), University of Dundee, and leads the forensic toxicology research portfolio.
Lorna is a board member of the European Workplace Drug Testing Society (EWDTS) and past chairman of the LTG (formally London Toxicology Group). She is a member of the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT), and the United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Forensic Toxicology (UKIAFT), and a Chartered Chemist with the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Additionally, Lorna also serves on the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs and is the Co-Director of the National Testing and Research Laboratory. She is the Programme Lead for the University of Dundee’s part-time distance Drug Analysis and Toxicology MSc. Lorna supervises PhD students and has acted as an internal and external examiner multiple times.
Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, FRSE, CCHEM, FRSC
Academic Lead and Director
Niamh’s career spans over 32 years in education, training, research and operational practice in forensic science.
She has supervised research projects in drug manufacture, analysis and characterisation publishing widely in these areas.
She is the academic lead on the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science’s non judicial drug testing for the Scottish Prison Service and Co-directs the Scottish National testing and research laboratory and Scottish national drug checking project. Niamh is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and holds other fellowships most notable with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland.
Dr Victoria Marland
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Dr Victoria Marland is a forensic and analytical chemist with extensive experience in the detection and analysis of illicit drugs, spanning both operational forensic laboratories and academic research.
Victoria is currently a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, University of Dundee, where she is the lead researcher for the Scottish Prisons Non-Judicial Drug Seizure Monitoring Project, the National Testing and Research Laboratory and Scottish National Drug Checking Project. Victoria is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and sits on the RSC Analytical Science Community Council. She is also a member of the London Toxicology Group and The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.
FAQ’s
- How drug testing strips work
- Safe and accurate testing procedures
- How to interpret results appropriately
- The significance of cut-off levels
- Cross-reactivity and potential limitations
- Validation and result reliability
Start Today
✓ On-demand
✓ Self-paced
✓ Unlimited access
✓ Designed by Experts
