Drug checking, or pill testing, is a harm reduction intervention that seeks to reduce the risks associated with drug use in the community. Drug samples presented by members of the public are subject to chemical analysis with the results returned directly to the client. Information derived from client expectation and chemical analysis of the sample is used to inform conversations about the contents, potential risks, and risk mitigation strategies associated with drug consumption. Drug checking also serves as a highly effective mechanism to monitor the unregulated drug market and detect the emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS) of potential concern in other fields, including the racing industry.
Since opening in July 2022 Australia’s first fixed site drug checking CanTEST has reported on significant changes in the local drug market, including changes in the purity of commonly occurring substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine, and ongoing changes in patterns of drug adulteration and substitution. Drug checking also often provides among the earliest warnings of the emergence of NPS, with local examples of world first detections of putative stimulant and opioid compounds.1,2 This presentation will provide overview of drug checking as a market monitor and explain how ‘checking in with the punters’ can furnish valuable intelligence relevant to the anti-doping analysis and the racing chemistry.
(1) Algar, J. L.; Lawes, D. J.; Carroll, A. J.; Caldicott, D.; McLeod, M. D. Identification of Three Unexpected New Psychoactive Substances at an Australian Drug Checking Service. Drug Test. Anal. 2024, 16 (10), 1144–1154. https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3637.
(2) Curtis, B.; Lawes, D. J.; Caldicott, D.; McLeod, M. D. Identification of the Novel Synthetic Opioid N-Pyrrolidino Isotonitazene at an Australian Drug Checking Service. Drug Test. Anal. 2025, 0, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3910.