Yikes.<\/p>\n
Right? Their drug-checking clinics can only estimate how much MDMA is in a pill. \u201cThere\u2019s often big differences between pills and the MDMA might not be mixed evenly into the filler ingredients.\u201d Helm likens it to a chocolate chip cookie. \u201cOne side of a cookie might have more chocolate chips than the other side, and similarly one part of your pill might contain more MDMA.\u201d Because it\u2019s illegal, there\u2019s no formalised quality control for MDMA. Pills with the same colour and design might not contain the same ingredients \u2013 that\u2019s due to pill presses being reused. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen different doses, or even different drugs, in identical-looking pills from month to month.\u201d Pills are also more likely to contain binders, fillers and other drugs \u2013 13% of the MDMA checked by NZDF recently wasn\u2019t as expected.<\/p>\n
And what else is out there at the moment that I \u2013 sorry, my mate \u2013 should be aware of?<\/p>\n
Around one in 10 samples that drug-testing organisation KnowYourStuffNZ sees are \u201cnot as expected\u201d. They\u2019ve found new ketamine analogues with unknown potency and effects, and dangerous substitutions for methamphetamine. Synthetic opioids like nitazenes and orphines, while not detected regularly, \u201ccontinue to be a large concern\u201d for KnowYourStuffNZ, says general manager Casey Spearin. \u201cAs a country we are very underprepared for a large influx of these substance types.\u201d Several days ago nitazene was found in a fake oxycodone tablet<\/a> in Wellington. \u201cIt is not unusual for counterfeit pharmaceuticals to be sold in blister packs, so people shouldn\u2019t assume something is safe even if it is packaged like a legitimate medication.\u201d Etomidate<\/a> (a drug used in general anaesthetic) has been found in illegal vapes.<\/p>\n Summers always see a range of drug adulteration; synthetic cathinones (AKA bath salts) have been sold as MDMA recently, according to Helm. \u201cIf you\u2019re planning on taking drugs this summer, be aware that your drugs might not be what you think they are. They could be mixed with something else, or they could be another drug entirely,\u201d she advises. \u201cDrug checking is a free, legal and confidential way to find out what\u2019s in your drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n And how would one go about getting one\u2019s drugs tested?<\/p>\n Good question. Spearin walked us through it. \u201cWhen you visit us, whether at a city clinic or a festival, our front-of-house staff will greet you and ask you if you have a sample to drop off.\u201d They\u2019ll give you a run-through of what happens and take you to the intake station, where volunteers collect some details about your sample and take a small amount (around 15mg) for testing. \u201cYou keep the rest of your sample and take away a card with your sample number on it \u2013 you will need this later to pick up your results.\u201d<\/p>\n Nervous about narks or the cops? Spearin says that\u2019s totally normal, but not to worry; they operate within the law, and people are \u201cfully covered, legally\u201d when getting drugs tested. \u201cAs per the legislation, your presence at a drug checking clinic can\u2019t be used as evidence against you.\u201d<\/p>\n Use of the service and test results are not admissible in civil or criminal proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n But they understand why people are concerned. \u201cAfter all, the drug-checking legislation is a tiny island of safety in the wider MoDA [Misuse of Drugs Act] which criminalises drug use. However, we have a great relationship with the police, who are supportive of drug checking and understand the importance of our service, so they know to keep a wide berth around our services.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n (KnowYourStuffNZ does advise practising some caution when taking substances for testing, like taking a small amount to the clinic and not taking your bag out on the street. Commonsense stuff.)<\/p>\n OK, any other news I need to know?<\/p>\n Acid is worth going slow on. The Drug Foundation is aware of LSD tabs that were stronger than people expected, resulting in harm. Helm notes that, as with pills, one tab doesn\u2019t always mean one dose. \u201cWe\u2019ve also had a recent report of pink pills being sold as oxycodone, but they actually contain a mix of a benzodiazepine and a synthetic opioid.\u201d That combination is \u201csignificantly\u201d more potent and has a higher risk of harm and overdose. They\u2019re also hearing of negative experiences with GHB and GBL<\/a>, stemming from opacity around which \u201cG\u201d is being taken; taking a GHB-sized dose of GBL \u201ccould cause an overdose\u201d.<\/p>\n New Zealanders also appear to be taking more substances. \u201cData shows a trend of increased and more diversified drug use over the last decade, which shows a real need for an increase in support and harm reduction,\u201d says Helm.\u00a0\u201cOf particular concern, we\u2019ve recently seen big increases in methamphetamine and cocaine use.\u201d Both are cheaper<\/a> and more available than ever. Consumption of meth doubled in the space of a year, according to an October 2025 survey<\/a> by Massey University\u2019s Shore and Wh\u0101riki Research Centre, while the price is half what it was eight years ago. Cocaine use has surged<\/a> \u2013 up 229%, according to some studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Any other tips for m\u2026.y friend?<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t assume that one pill = one dose,\u201d says Helm. \u201cEspecially if it\u2019s your first time taking MDMA, start with a smaller dose and wait to feel the effects before taking more.\u201d Mixing alcohol with MDMA can mask the effects of each substance. She advises drinking a glass of water every hour or so and keeping an eye out for symptoms of overheating. \u201cDrug harm over summer is often compounded by things like dehydration and heatstroke.\u201d And if you\u2019re really concerned, go to the ER. \u201cThey can give you something that could help.\u201d<\/p>\n New Zealand\u2019s drug market fluctuates. \u201cIt changes region to region, event to event, year to year, or even week to week,\u201d says Spearin. \u201cIt only takes one dealer to turn up at a festival and start deceptively, or unknowingly, selling people \u2018MDMA\u2019 which actually contains something more harmful. So the takeaway is please check your drugs.\u201d It\u2019s also worth following High Alert<\/a>, a national \u201cearly warning system for dodgy drugs\u201d circulating in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many drugs are more potent, more affordable and more available this summer. Here\u2019s what you need to know.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[492,34930,150913,150914,111,150915,43,139,69,2935],"class_list":["post-263919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-comments-enabled","tag-drug-testing","tag-knowyourstuffnz","tag-mdma","tag-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand-drug-foundation","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Pills don\u2019t always contain what they\u2019re sold as (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n