KARTLÄGGNING AV NARKOTIKA - En utvärdering av att mäta narkotikaförekomst genom avloppsvattenprover

Abstract

Aims and objectives: The purpose of the study is to address what knowledge wastewater analysis generates when estimating drug use at a community level in relation to traditional measurements methods. The current study is based on data from the wastewater-based project in Halland. Additionally, the purpose of the study is also to investigate possible uncertainty margins within the sewage-based methodology. The study also clarifies how the perception of ethics is construed and specifies the dropout of sewage treatment plants of the project in Halland. Further, the study also examines what potential impact wastewater analysis have on police work. Method and data: The data consists on a comprehensive method triangulation of semi structured interviews, observations and documents. From the material, similar patterns were identified in line with the theoretical framework, which was constructed by the theoretical concepts of targeting, testing and tracking. Results: The tools used to analyze wastewater can be considered very precise. The largest uncertainty margins for the wastewater-based methodology arise during the sampling process (i.e. when the sewage samples are conducted during the day). The wastewaterbased epidemiology has the potential to provide information on geographical and temporal trends in short timeframes, including changing trends in particular locations. However, it is important to establish a common protocol of practice, which should include when during the day the wastewater sampling occurs. The protocol should also include ethical considerations which constitutes i) communication to all included partners for project management and ii) how information is communicated to the media. These considerations must be applied in order to ensure that the results from the wastewater-based analysis can be used to improve general public health and the efficiency of police work.