The campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines just got a serious boost, thanks to a groundbreaking technology from the University of the Philippines-Drugs of Abuse Research Laboratory (UP-DARL).
The laboratory recently unveiled the Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry, a high-tech device that can quickly identify new and sneaky types of party drugs hitting the market.
During its launch at UP Manila, Prof. Joanna Toralba, UP-DARL Laboratory manager, introduced the cutting-edge tool, highlighting its ability to detect psychoactive substances in biological samples and pharmaceuticals.
“Providing public information about these party drugs will boost the campaign against illegal drugs, including drug misuse and overdose,” she said.
“This new technology will certainly give our law enforcers the upper hand in the fight against the new kinds of recreational drugs proliferating in the market,” she added.
Most importantly, UP Manila isn’t keeping this innovation to itself. The professor revealed plans to share the technology with regional centers and state universities to amplify its impact nationwide.
“We can help replicate the expertise in regional centers, and other state colleges and universities, so they too can assist our government in fighting the proliferation of illegal drugs,” she said.
