Aimed at tackling the increase in new psychoactive substances, or legal highs, the Wedinos project is the first of its kind in the UK.
According to a new study by the Centre for Social Justice, the number of young people in Britain who have tried legal highs is the "highest figure in Europe." And while the service is mainly aimed at health and substance misuse workers, it's available to anybody in Wales. Results from drugs tested at the Wedinos lab are posted online, identified by a reference number. All one needs to use the service is a a postcode, meaning the sample isn't traced back to the user, regardless of what's in it.. This has drawn some criticism from some who believe the system will be misused.
"It is obviously open to abuse by dangerous criminals peddling harmful substances in order to fund other crime," a Conservative health official said. However, Welsh Health Minister Mark Drakeford, who funds the project, believes the service is vital to protect people.
"It's essential intelligence for our health workers, for our substance misuse workers, for the police, for young people and their families. By providing timely and accurate information this service can save lives."
One thing that can't be argued are numbers, which show that in the UK, one in 12 people aged 15 to 24 (670,000) have tried New Psychoactive Substance, or NPS, and that deaths from NPS were on the rise as well, up from 29 in 2011 to 52 last year. A Mixmag drug survey also concluded that 12 percent of UK clubbers had tried a legal high in the last year.
[Via BBC Newsbeat and Mixmag]