Drug Testing Equipment Isn’t Drug Paraphernalia Anymore

Effective immediately, there is a new exception to G.S. 90-113.22 (possession of drug paraphernalia) and G.S. 90-113.22A (possession of marijuana paraphernalia). Pursuant to S.L. 2019-159, it is “not unlawful” for a drug user to possess or use “testing equipment for identifying or analyzing the strength, effectiveness, or purity” of drugs, or for an “organization that promotes scientifically proven ways of mitigating health risks associated with drug use” to possess or distribute such equipment. Read on to find out what’s behind the change. In a nutshell. Basically, drug users and harm reduction organizations are now allowed to use drug testing equipment to check the strength and purity of drugs without worrying that the possession of testing equipment violates the paraphernalia laws. The apparent idea is to enable users to identify adulterated drugs – including drugs that contain fentanyl, a key driver of overdose deaths. Background reading on “drug checking” is available here from the NC Journal of Law and Technology and here from the Drug Policy Alliance. More detail on the statutes. Prior to the amendment, North Carolina’s paraphernalia laws made it unlawful to, among other things, “use . . . drug paraphernalia to . . . test [or] analyze . . . a controlled substance.” I don’t know why testing and analyzing were included initially, but many other states have similar provisions. See, e.g., Kan. Stat. 21-5709 (unlawful to use or possess with intent to use paraphernalia to “test [or] analyze” a controlled substance); Ohio Stat. § 2925.14 (defining unlawful paraphernalia [...]