News
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Call to Action: To Support Pill Testing in NSW now!
Read more: Call to Action: To Support Pill Testing in NSW now!A Pill Testing Trial Bill is coming up for debate in the Upper House. We need your support to pass the message to NSW Health Minister Ryan Park that we cannot wait for this essential health service.
National Harm Reduction Forum
Read more: National Harm Reduction ForumForum overview Currently in Australia, there is no regular mechanism to unite and bring those working in and around harm reduction and related sectors together at the national level. The National Harm Reduction Forum 2024 is a free, online event for important conversations on harm reduction and drug policy reform in Australia. This year’s forum will focus…
Drug checkers get a funding boost
Read more: Drug checkers get a funding boostThe CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service will continue to be funded until June 2027, as the ACT government extends its funding by $1.8 million. Read more
Pill-testing plan to stop ‘horror’ of teenagers overdosing: Premier
Read more: Pill-testing plan to stop ‘horror’ of teenagers overdosing: PremierDr David Caldicott, an emergency department consultant and clinical lead with Pill Testing Australia, said festival-goers often changed their behaviour once they had their drugs tested. Caldicott said the Victorian drug-checking proposal was timely because nitazenes – a new group of dangerous synthetic opioids more potent than fentanyl – had been found in pills tested…
Pill testing is said to slash the number of overdoses
Read more: Pill testing is said to slash the number of overdosesQueensland, Australia, just committed to government-funded testing of illegal drugs. The harm reduction strategy is popular in Western Europe, where lab technicians have set up a tent at music festivals or clubs and run basic tests on party drugs. As The World’s Sarah Birnbaum reports, the idea is to give partiers a chance to reject…
Illegal ketamine use is at a record high, and dangerous chemical cousins are entering the market
Read more: Illegal ketamine use is at a record high, and dangerous chemical cousins are entering the marketThe illegal use of ketamine soared in 2023 in Australia. But as ketamine rises in popularity, organised crime groups are importing dangerous chemical copies of the drug. The number of these copies on the market is “an unknown, unknown”. Read more
Canberra pill testing service CanTEST issues red alert after finding synthetic opioid
Read more: Canberra pill testing service CanTEST issues red alert after finding synthetic opioidIt’s the first time CanTEST has issued such a notice this year, and only the fourth time since operations began in Civic in mid-2022. “A red alert is something that we issue very rarely,” explained Dr Caldicott. “It is a reflection of how serious we think the impact of drugs like this can be on…
Yellow powder sold as DMT contains potent synthetic cannabinoid – DIANZ
Read more: Yellow powder sold as DMT contains potent synthetic cannabinoid – DIANZMDMB-4en-PINACA is a powerful synthetic cannabinoid that can lead to overdoses, even at low concentrations, and has been linked to serious harm – including deaths – in New Zealand. DMT is a psychedelic drug that produces effects similar to those of LSD.
Pill testing ‘essential’ for saving lives
Read more: Pill testing ‘essential’ for saving livesThe first of those trials of drug checking in Australia was conducted at the Groovin’ the Moo music festival in 2018, by a group that came to be known as Pill Testing Australia (PTA). The story of how that happened is discussed elsewhere (here) but “how” we do it is a matter of record. Read…
NSW Health issues public health warning after cluster of opioid overdoses in Sydney
Read more: NSW Health issues public health warning after cluster of opioid overdoses in SydneyNSW Health has issued a public health warning after about 20 people suffered severe opioid overdoses in the Penrith area in the past month. An investigation revealed nitazenes were found in drug samples related to a cluster of overdoses reported in Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District. Read more