About one in ten substances tested by Australia's first fixed-site drug checking service, here in Canberra are dumped by their users. Cantest is marking its second year of operations in the ACT and experts say it's saving lives.
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00:00The Free and Confidential Service has collected almost 3,000 drug samples over the past two
00:08years. Of those, about 1 in 10 substances was voluntarily discarded once people found
00:15out what was in them. MDMA, cocaine and ketamine were most commonly tested, followed by meth
00:21and heroin. Tests show the median purity of samples also increased across the board in
00:27the second year, most notably when testing cocaine and heroin. The service has issued
00:3320 public safety alerts after discovering concerning substances. It's also unearthed
00:39four previously undetected drugs. We've discovered drugs that have never been seen anywhere else
00:45in the world before as a consequence of the involvement of our amazing chemistry team
00:49from ANU and that information can be shared globally. We may be able to influence and
00:55stop trends right at the very beginning. CanTest has provided more than 4,000 interventions
01:01for clients as part of its health, alcohol and other drug support services. It's also
01:07given out 225 nasal naloxone sprays, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
01:14One of the key outcomes that we're interested in is that they use fewer drugs, they choose
01:19not to mix their drugs, they use their drugs in such a way that it doesn't mean that they
01:23have to go to hospital. The ACT government has committed to extending the funding for
01:28CanTest until June 2027.