Some harm reduction news from Aotearoa New Zealand, where drug checking clinics have been legal and funded by the government for the last few years.

The NZ Drug Foundation (which runs u/TheLevelNZ) has just released a report on what we saw at our drug checking clinics in 2023.

Some of the key findings:

• Nearly 1 in 5 of the drugs we checked was completely or somewhat different to what the person thought they had
• We checked 51% more samples than we did in 2022, which is awesome and means we're reducing harm in more communities
• Most people (50%) brought in what they thought was MDMA, but we saw growing amounts of cocaine (7%), methamphetamine (6%), and ketamine (6%) through the door

Samples that were found to be as expected (or combined with non-psychoactive binder or filler):

• 86% of MDMA
• 71% of cocaine
• 75% of methamphetamine
• 91% of ketamine
• 90% of LSD

The report has lots more detail if you're interested: https://drugfoundation.org.nz/articles/report-drug-checking-2023

And if you're interested in our drug checking regime you can find out more on The Level: https://thelevel.org.nz/safer-using/checking-your-drugs