To strengthen the Philippine government’s efforts to identify, control and neutralize drug abuse, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Tuesday (Nov. 12) that the University of the Philippines (UP) has upgraded its research laboratory on Drugs of Abuse (DARL).

“CHED recognizes UP Manila’s expertise in chemical and health sciences, and we want this expertise to serve the government,” CHED Secretary Popoy De Vera said in a statement.

De Vera and UP Manila Chancellor Michael Tee unveiled the UP DARL marker and inspected the new device provided to the university.

CHED explained that the UP DARL now uses state-of-the-art equipment, currently proprietary to the UP Manila College of Pharmacy, to identify a wider range of drug compounds, including new party drugs, in real time. This upgrade aims to improve the illegal drug testing capabilities of law enforcement agencies.

“The UP DARL will provide information to help the government better address the drug problem in the country, taking into account a public health and human rights approach to the issue,” said From Vera.

Tee, on behalf of UP Manila, thanked CHED for its support in the creation of the DARL.

“More than a laboratory for testing drugs, this will serve as a teaching and learning center where future experts will be trained,” Tee said.

“We hope that through this we can help replicate the expertise of regional centers and other state colleges and universities so that they too can help our government combat the proliferation of illegal drugs,” a- he added.

Project funded by CHED

Under the CHED-Philippine-California Advanced Research Institutes (CHED-PCARI) program, the Commission allocated P160,632,193.76 million to support capacity building and equipment procurement for the UP DARL.

CHED has invested a total of P112,608,000 million to provide various equipment that will help identify drug abuse, including new psychoactive substances.

The lab can now identify 110 types of drug compounds, while existing test kits can only detect 10 types. This upgrade also reduces the wait time for test results from several weeks to just one day.

The laboratory uses liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF/MS) to analyze new designer drugs in hair samples and a point-of-care device (POCT) to test for the presence of new psychoactive substances selected. in urine samples.

UP DARL’s research and clinical findings could also help law enforcement officials more accurately identify drugs whose supply should be reduced.

CHED also noted that UP DARL’s active collaboration with health agencies, clinical and forensic toxicologists, and addiction medicine specialists will play a key role in the effective management of existing drug addiction cases.

Expertise from academia

De Vera noted that the program is an “example of academia’s expertise serving government.”

“As I have constantly reiterated during my speeches at UP, UP can only truly realize its mandate as a national university and prove its reputation as the best university in the country if it is ready to translate its intelligence, his skills and his excellence in concrete actions. an action that will help the government make a transformative impact on the lives of the Filipino people,” he added.

Since 2019, UP DARL has used various technologies to identify drugs of abuse and supported law enforcement agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).