WHY WE DO IT

Drug checking services have been successfully operating in other countries around the world for decades.

Around 3.4 million Australians used drugs in the past 12 months. Right now, they have no reliable way of knowing how potent these drugs are and what they might contain. When people can’t get the information they need to make informed decisions, harm, hospitalisation and even death can result.

Multiple stakeholders stand to benefit from the implementation of drug checking services, as described below.

SERVICE USERS

Provision of drug checking services and harm reduction messaging has been found to influence service users' behaviour, making them more likely to dispose of drugs and to decrease the amount taken¹². A drug checking service also improves engagement with people who may use drugs who may be unwilling to discuss their drug use with other services. This improves drug education and health advice delivery to this population and allows safer decision making around drug use.

Key References:

¹ Measham F. Drug safety testing, disposals and dealing in an English field: Exploring the operational and behavioural outcomes of the UK's first onsite 'drug checking' service. Int J Drug Policy. 2018 Nov 28. pii: S0955-3959(18)30275-5. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.11.001.

² Karamouzian M, Dohoo C, Forsting S et al. Evaluation of a fentanyl drug checking service for clients of a supervised injection facility, Vancouver, Canada. Harm Reduction Journal. 2018 Sep;15:46.