“We’ve been really pleased with the uptake of our drug-checking clinics in Whangārei. We started pop-up clinics in the city last year and have made these monthly (on the last Friday of every month) in 2024, partnering with the awesome folks at the local needle exchange on Robert Street who have been hosting us and helping to get the word out.
“In a black market, drugs can be mixed with other drugs or sold as something completely different. Last year we found that was the case for nearly one in five drugs we checked.
“The most dangerous drug is the one someone isn’t expecting, which is why we really encourage anyone who is taking drugs to get them checked if they can.
“We don’t just tell people what’s in their drugs. We also have a confidential harm-reduction conversation with every person who walks through the door about ways to stay safer. For some people it’s the first time they’ve been able to have an honest conversation about their drug use.“
The NZ Drug Foundation is providing free nitazene test strips. Photo / NZ Drug Foundation
“A dose as small as a grain of sand can be deadly, and we’ve seen them sold as other drugs in New Zealand. They’ve been linked to hospitalisations and may also be linked to several deaths already.
”If people can’t get along to a drug-checking clinic, they can order free nitazene test strips from our website so they can check their drugs for nitazenes at home. The strips and shipping are free, and we send out the strips in a discreet plain envelope.
“We are committed to reducing drug harm across Aotearoa, and we’re looking at ways that we can continue to grow and improve drug-checking services in Whangārei and across Te Tai Tokerau,“ Hughes said.
In 2023, its second year as a licensed drug checking provider, the foundation tested 2602 samples nationwide, compared to 1720 samples the year before.
For privacy reasons, she couldn’t release locally specific figures about its findings.
However, the foundation’s What We Saw at Drug Checking in 2023 report said that nationally 8.5 per cent of the samples contained a completely different drug to what the person expected, 6.5 per cent contained the drug the person expected plus one or more other psychoactive or hazardous substances, and 3 per cent returned inconclusive results, meaning the substances present couldn’t be confirmed.
“As drug-checking reaches new communities, we see different types of drugs brought in for us to check.”
KnowYourStuffNZ is part of the legal and publicly funded drug-checking programme, which also includes the Needle Exchange and the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Photo / Facebook
The report included a breakdown of the most commonly expected drugs the foundation had seen at its public clinics (excluding festivals and events) and the most commonly expected drugs it had seen overall.
By far the biggest drug presented was MDMA, of which 1472 samples were tested.
The next most tested drugs included cocaine (199 samples), ketamine (175), and methamphetamine (144). There were 101 samples that turned out to be other non-psychoactive binder/filler, 100 where the results were inconclusive and 77 that were LSD.
In many cases those samples were mixtures of two or more substances.
Binders included gelatine, which is dangerous to inject. Fillers included Epsom salt, which could damage people’s noses if snorted. Other fillers such as lactose and wheat flour were allergens for a lot of people.
Seventy-seven of the 2602 samples (or 3per cent) were reported to be related to a harm incident before they were brought in for checking.
Feedback the foundation had received from clients included the comment: “I wished this had been around when I was teenager”.
“All my friends told me that this is probably a set up, but now that I am here, I am like ‘why did I not do this sooner?’ You guys are awesome,” another client said.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference
