Australia’s first fixed-site health and drug checking service, CanTEST, which opened in Civic last July (read more), has strong community support, according to the final report published today, Monday 17 July.
The CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service Program Evaluation: Final Report, an evaluation of the program’s first six months, showed that CanTEST is a valuable service providing Canberrans with access to support and advice without fear of judgement, ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service is run by Directions Health Services in partnership with Pill Testing Australia and Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA).
Since the clinic opened its doors, a range of drugs has been brought into the service for testing, including MDMA, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, and psychedelics.
In its first 11 months of operation, CanTEST tested more than 1,000 samples; half of the drugs tested were not what people expected them to be.
Dr Anna Olsen, Associate Professor of Social Foundations of Medicine at the Australian National University, said finding unsuspected drugs “[gives] us new information about the drug market and, importantly, [shows] a need for drug checking to improve community safety”.
People using the service were less likely to take the drug after testing if it contained something unexpected. Clients voluntarily discarded more than 10 per cent of samples after testing.
“Young people attending CanTEST communicate the advice they receive to their peers, and when unexpected results were found, 32 per cent said they would not take the substance,” Bronwyn Hendry, CEO of Directions, said.
Almost all clients would recommend the service to others.
“The ACT continues to lead the nation with our evidence-based approach in treating drug use as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“Seventy per cent of clients using the service had never accessed a healthcare worker for information or advice about drug use. CanTEST not only provides people with chemical analysis of drugs, but it also provides access to drop-in nurse consultations offering general health, sexual health, and mental health advice.”
The service delivered more than 1,400 health and alcohol and drug interventions to individuals and groups in its first year; some clients received multiple interventions in one visit.
The service has also contributed to information about the drugs circulating in the Canberra community, which allows health services and the wider community to learn about and respond to dangerous substances earlier.
“This collaboration between alcohol and other drug service providers, harm reduction experts, the government and researchers has allowed for the collection of new health information,” Professor Olsen said.
“Using novel approaches, we are advancing knowledge about harm reduction practices and the impact of health education on people who use drugs.”
“CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service has the potential to save lives, not only for people attending the service, but also across our community,” Ms Hendry said.
“The information CanTEST publishes, including test results, harm reduction strategies, and identification of concerning substances, is circulated widely within the ACT and throughout Australia.”
The evaluation report made a number of recommendations to improve the service, including engaging additional analytical chemists; increasing surge capacity for when events are held in Canberra; and reviewing staffing, opening hours, and days of operation.
In the recent 2023-24 Budget, the ACT Government provided $1.2 million to extend CanTEST until December 2024, as harm reduction advocates had urged (read more).
“This will allow further consideration of the service model to ensure it is sustainable in the longer term, and give us time to fully review the recommendations of the evaluation,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“We know the safest option is not to take drugs, and this will always be our advice to the community. However, we recognise there is also a need for initiatives that reduce the harms for people who still choose to use drugs.
“The ACT Government will continue to invest in evidence-based and practice-informed policies to reduce alcohol and other drug-related harm for individuals, families, and the broader Canberra community.”
Ms Hendry said, “The CanTEST consortium commends the ACT Government’s health-first approach to drug use, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from this service.”
Located on the ground floor of the City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street Civic, the free and confidential service is open every Thursday from 3pm to 6pm and Friday from 6pm to 9pm.
