Today marks the two-year anniversary of Australia’s first fixed-site health and drug-checking service, CanTEST.

The free and confidential service, at 1 Moore St., Civic, tests drugs and gives advice about their harms.

The service analyses the composition of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine (ice), and LSD.

“Drug checking and the provision of harm reduction information saves lives, so increased access to services can only benefit the community,” Bronwyn Hendry, CEO of Directions Health Services Canberra, said.

Directions runs CanTEST, in partnership with Pill Testing Australia and the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA). The ANU Research School of Chemistry provides technical support.

Dangerous substances found in drugs

Since 2022, CanTEST has tested 2,939 samples. Often, drug samples that clients bring in for testing turn out to be ‘impure’. For instance, 17 per cent of heroin samples and 52 per cent of ketamine samples turned out to contain other substances.

CanTEST has detected nitrazenes (synthetic opioids that can cause overdoses) and four substances hitherto unknown to medical science.

“People who use drugs care about their health and wellbeing, and want to know what they are using, to stay as safe as they can,” Chris Gough, executive director of CAHMA, said.

“It has been surprising just how unpredictable the illicit drug market is in Canberra, with some very dangerous substances found over our first two-year period.

“The information that CanTEST provides through testing and community alerts is therefore crucial to let people know the dangers involved and make informed choices about their drug use.”

12 per cent of clients discarded drugs in the service’s first year, and 10 per cent in its second.

However, the median purity of drugs has improved over the last two years:

The service also offers drop-in nurse consultations and advice about general, mental, and sexual health. 26 per cent of clients talked to a nurse about their drug use or other health matters.

Funding guaranteed until 2027

The service began as a six-month pilot, but the ACT Government recently extended funding for CanTEST until June 2027.

“The ACT Government is committed to treating substance use as a health issue, not a criminal issue,” Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Population Health, said.

“People take drugs. Removing the stigma to have honest conversations about your health can save your life.”

The service builds on pill-testing at the Groovin the Moo festival in 2018 and 2019, and in Garema Place, Civic. In turn, CanTEST’s example has led to other states setting up similar services.

“Service users were offered the opportunity to access the same sort of service outside of the music festival calendar, and have embraced it whole-heartedly,” Dr David Caldicott, Pill Testing Australia, said.

“It has altered the trajectory of thousands of young people who use drugs, and paved the way for other jurisdictions to take the plunge.”

CanTEST is open on Thursday afternoons (3pm to 6pm) and on Friday evenings (6pm to 9pm).