When: January 26th – January 30th, 2025 from 8:45am – 12:00pm ET each day,

with afternoon workshops beginning at 1pm ET.

Program Chairs:

Dr. Carl Fletcher (Defence Science & Technology Laboratory),

Dr. Terra Dassau (U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and 

Samantha Ollerton (Precision Plus Consulting)

A warm welcome to the 2026 Current Trends in Seized Drugs Analysis Symposium! We invite you to enjoy and engage in a week of exciting presentations from scientists from academia, government and industry.

This year’s symposium focuses on drugs today, and drugs tomorrow. In other words, what are the drug analysis problems we face today and what emerging threats are we likely to see? Followed by, how will Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) or novel techniques improve drug analysis?

• Monday – Global Trends: We begin the week by discussing the current global trends seen for drugs and novel psychoactive substances (NPS), touching on predictions of what drugs are coming next.

• Tuesday – SWGDRUG: The Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG) will give presentations covering statistical sampling methods, forensic drugs testing procedures and the rise of semi-synthetic drugs.

• Wednesday – Clandestine Laboratories: In previous years, audience feedback has asked for more insight to clandestine laboratories and frontline operations. This year we bring a diverse agenda covering cannabis extraction, semi-synthetic cannabinoids, and two customs cases including complex cocaine analysis.

• Thursday – AI/ML: The penultimate day brings the application of AI/ML to a range of analysis tools from field portable techniques to the laboratory and even wastewater.

• Friday – Novel Techniques: Closing the week with tradition, we will have presentations on the most recent analytical developments that will have an impact on drugs analysis.

The Current Trends in Seized Drug Analysis Symposium is designed for YOU! The success of the symposium depends on your active participation, so please feel free to ask questions, share your knowledge and challenges, and provide suggestions for future speakers, session topics and any other feedback where possible. 

PLEASE HELP SAVE YOUR SEAT!! There is no registration fee for this event! If you are able, we are requesting a voluntary donation of $10 USD per attendee that can be made by clicking by clicking the PayPal button below. Why? We pay a fee for every online “seat”. Due to its popularity, we have had to close registration for past events once the number of seats we could afford to purchase were filled. Our goal this year is NOT to shut down registration, but rather to provide a seat for everyone that would like one. A small donation from each attendee would allow this to happen. If you cannot donate, you are still very welcome to attend the event. Thank-you for your kind consideration and we hope you enjoy this year’s program.

Click the LOGIN button below to complete your registration for the 2026 Symposium!