Hello, for backstory, I’m freshly out of the academy, into my 3rd month of FTO. Things are going great so far.
However, one of the things that seems to really mind blowing me is understanding different drug types, more specifically , pills. I fear looking dumb by misidentifying any sort of medications. What are some tools or resources you use to help you identifying illegal/non prescribed drugs? I have asked some folks in my department, but I always love different perspectives.
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I just Google it. 🤷🏻♂️
If it’s a non prescription pill with no markings that’s harder but like 90% of the time they just tell you what it is anyway lol.
See if you can get your hands on a Drug ID Bible. Get SFST, ARIDE, and DRE certifications.
Experience mainly. You’re not going to learn everything in 3 months. A good resource is to read ALOT. Also keep your phone handy and use a pill identifying app for anything that has a number on it. Try to keep tabs on what’s the most popular on the street at the moment and after FTO, take all the training your department will let you go to.
Drugs.com. You input the description and it’ll tell you what the pill/tablet is. If the powder is powder is probably cocaine. If the powder is more crystalline it’s probably meth. Smells like vinegar? Heroin. Smells like nail polish remover? PCP. Makes you hungry when you smoke it? Weed. Looks like mushrooms? Probably mushrooms.
Hope this helps.
Drugs.com. Oftentimes, there’ll be a number and/or letter stamped in the pill. It’s helpful because the website will also give you the generic and brand names (buprenorphine and naloxone = suboxone), as well as the scheduling.
Also, whatever powder or rock you find, test it based on your suspicion. And then test it for fentanyl. That shits in everything.