A free drug testing service is visiting Wānaka on December 28 for the second year in a row.

The service, brought to Wānaka by KnowYourStuffNZ, allows people to find out whether their drugs have any unexpected ingredients in them before consumption.

“We're aware that many people flock to Otago's Lakes district to engage in New Years Festivities,” KnowYourStuffNZ regional manager Lachlan Akers told the Wānaka App.

“It is a simple fact that many people use drugs, and so we aim to reduce the harm caused by the unregulated black market by checking what's in people's stuff for them, and providing harm reduction information based on what we find.”

The organisation is a licensed drug checking service and the Wānaka Clinic will take place at the Lake Wānaka Centre. It follows a clinic in Queenstown a day earlier.

“Last year we had a moderate turnout to our Wānaka clinic, and we're expecting even more demand for this year's New Year's period clinics,” Lachlan said. 

KnowYourstuff, which is supported by health services, NGOs, and NZ Police, was formed in 2015, with an ethos of harm reduction - a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use.

In the 2020-21 season only 69 percent of substances tested by KnowYourStuffNZ across New Zealand were what people thought they were.

Lachlan said there was “no shortage” of demand for drug checking services in the area.

“Unfortunately, we just don't have sufficient resources to have regular continuous clinics in this region to meet that demand, however we're trying our best with what resources we have available.”

The Wānaka drug testing clinic will take place on December 28 at the Lake Wānaka Centre between 4.30pm and 6pm.

The Queenstown clinic will run at the same time on December 27 at the Queenstown Memorial Centre.

KnowYourstuff, which is supported by health services, NGOs, and NZ Police, was formed in 2015, with an ethos of harm reduction - a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use.

All KnowYourStuffNZ services are legal, free and confidential.

Find more information about KnowYourStuffNZ here and more information about the clinics here.

PHOTO: Supplied