The first of two drug checking clinics this month took place in Wānaka on Saturday (July 30) at the Lake Wānaka Centre.

High Alert, the public face of Drug Information and Alerts Aotearoa New Zealand (DIANZ), organises the drug checking clinics, which offer a free, legal and confidential way for people to check that the substances they have are what they think they are.

A police spokesperson told the Wānaka App that, in general, police recommend people not take illicit substances.

“However, the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Act, which was passed by Parliament in November 2021, has improved levels of service and accessibility meaning more people can have their drugs checked before they choose to use them.  

“This has helped contribute to the reduction in drug harm across the community,” they said.

Many of the drugs in New Zealand are mixed with other drugs or sold as something they aren’t, DIANZ says.

“A significant amount of the MDMA tested at drug checking clinics turns out to be synthetic cathinones like eutylone (also known as bath salts). This can happen with many different drugs.”

Synthetic cannabinoids can be sold as real cannabis and NBOMe can be sold as LSD (acid), while drugs like cocaine can have more fillers like creatine or lactose in them than actual cocaine. 

“This could happen because of a shortage of a drug or because the drug has gone through many hands and been ‘cut’ with other things in the process,” DIANZ says.

The police reminded people that such drugs are still illegal.

“So if people do choose to use illicit substances, we would recommend making the most of services like KnowYourStuff drug checking to confirm that what you think you are taking is what it purports to be,” the police spokesperson said.

The next Wānaka clinic will be held on Saturday August 13.

Find out more about drug checking and how it works here.

PHOTO: Supplied