95bFM A third of drugs checked by NZ Drug Foundation contain unexpected substances
25 April, 2023
By Alex Cormack-Neto
Principal Science Advisor at the NZ Drug Foundation Emily Hughes says drug checking services prevent overdoses and help them warn the public about what is circulating in the community. Photo: NZ Drug Foundation.
The NZ Drug Foundation's 2022 drug checking data report has found that about a third of the drugs brought into their drug checking clinics were not what people thought they were.
The foundation ran 73 clinics and checked 1720 samples nationwide in 2022, their first full year as a licensed drug checking provider.
In Aotearoa, drug checking is a free, legal, and confidential service that aims to help people find out what is actually in their drugs so they can make informed decisions about if, when, and how they take them.
MDMA was the most common drug people thought they had when they brought it in for checking, and MDMA was the most commonly found substance.
When testing what was thought to be MDMA, 12% was not MDMA at all, and of that 12%, 37% were synthetic cathinones.
Principal Science Advisor at the NZ Drug Foundation Emily Hughes told Jack Cormack-Neto on 95bFM's The Wire that synthetic cathinones being sold as MDMA are definitely a concern to them.
Hughes warned that synthetic cathinones can have a much lower dosage rate than MDMA, so if someone takes a substance thinking it is MDMA when it is a cathinone, they could be at risk of an overdose or “end up having a really bad time”.
"They often have some unpleasant or unexpected effects when people take them, especially when people do not know they are taking them.”
Hughes said that in some cases, 45 minutes to an hour after taking a cathinone, people felt anxious, agitated, nauseous, and could not sleep for several days.
The report found that if a drug was not what people thought it was, 46% said they would not take it.
But when people said they would or might take the substance, Hughes said many people told them they would take harm reduction measures to keep themselves safer, such as taking a lower dose than they had initially planned or avoiding mixing with alcohol, other drugs or medicines.
Hughes stressed the importance of expanding drug checking services across the country to prevent overdoses and help them better understand what is circulating in the community.
“It is a great way for us to understand what might be happening in the market and get that information out through our public warning system High Alert and on social media."
You can find the next drug checking clinic near you using this calendar or purchase a reagent test to check your drugs at home.
Information about harm reduction can be found on The Level.
The Alcohol and Drug Helpline can be reached at 0800 787 797 (phone call) and 8681 (text).
