Improving Consistency in Forensic Reporting Through DEA’s GUARDS Comprehensive Methodology

This workshop originally occurred on December 5, 2024
Duration 3 hours 10 minutes

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Global Uniform Analysis and Reporting of Drug-Related Substances (GUARDS) methodology addresses challenges in identifying synthetic and emerging drugs, improves consistency in forensic reporting, and simultaneously generates more comprehensive information. The DEA’s GUARDS method offers a fast, efficient, cost-effective, and uniform approach to analysis and reporting for the seized drug community. 

With the landscape of the illicit drug market evolving to include a rise in synthetic emerging drugs, innovative, comprehensive, and reliable analytical methods are needed to capture the complexity of current polydrug samples fully. Differences in federal, state, and local laws affect how seized drug laboratories analyze and report chemical substances. For example, results from January to December 2023 (CY23) DEA seizures in a New England state show 26% of fentanyl exhibits analyzed contained xylazine. Whereas the National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) shows 0% for the same state in CY23. These types of reporting inconsistencies among various agencies impact law enforcement and public health responses to emerging drug threats like xylazine. 

As the GUARDS methodology is adopted, establishing the foundation for an enhanced DEA-sponsored Early Warning System, advanced data analytics modeling opportunities will emerge. Additionally, GUARDS supports the TRANQ (Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality) Research Act of 2023, which requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support research and other activities related to identifying xylazine, novel synthetic opioids, and other new psychoactive substances.  

This workshop explores the impact inconsistent drug analysis reporting has on public health and public trust. The value and implementation of the GUARDS innovative methodology in over 200 instruments across DEA laboratories is presented, as well as the efforts of other labs of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Illinois State Police. Furthermore, new initiatives aimed at increasing the consistency of reported data to NFLIS is discussed. 

Speakers share the efforts of DEA laboratory chemists to develop, validate, and implement the GUARDS method. Along with CBP, they discuss experiences and challenges they have encountered. Experts from Agilent Technologies and Shimadzu Scientific Instruments offer guidance and tools on converting gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instruments to use hydrogen as the carrier gas. In summary, this workshop aims to provide attendees with an understanding of the history of the GUARDS method, the impact it will have in the forensic community, and resources to support the setup of this methodology in your laboratory.