Three new illicit psycho-active drugs have been discovered at Canberra's fixed site pill testing service, Cantest.
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00:00 The samples were thought to be MDMA, ketamine and Ritalin.
00:05 What we found was relatively similar compounds but with a small structural difference.
00:10 Illicit drugs new to pill testing chemists as well as to the market.
00:14 We can't really say what these drugs would do to a person because we've never seen them before.
00:19 CanTest is the country's only permanent drug checking or pill testing site.
00:23 The drug samples were assessed at its Canberra lab in June 2023.
00:28 Just how widespread these or any other new drugs are can't be measured.
00:32 What we can do is give Canberrans and Territorians from the ACT a good idea of what's in their market.
00:39 It's quite hard to extend that information to other jurisdictions.
00:43 There are renewed calls for pill testing to be made more widely available following a series of overdoses this month.
00:49 Several people attending the Juicy Fests and Hard Mission musical festivals in Victoria were hospitalised after taking what's thought to be MDMA.
00:57 Dr Caldicott says data from the US shows a trend towards cheaper to produce imitations of illicit drugs like amphetamines, MDMA and ecstasy.
01:06 A trend which appears to have arrived in Australia.
01:09 I think a lot of people who consume or purchase drugs are being sold a dud and potentially a dangerous dud.
01:18 The three samples analysed by CanTest were taken away by the clients.
01:22 Whether they took the drugs and if so what their effect was remains unknown.
01:26 is unknown.
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