The NZ Drug Foundation Te Puna Whakaiti Pāmamae Kai Whakapiri says it is crucial drug checking services continue to reach new people as drug use grows and diversifies.
The charity, one of three licenced public drug checking providers, released its annual drug checking report today showing 12% growth in samples tested at its public clinics, with 42% of clients saying it was their first time visiting a drug checking clinic.
The Foundation’s Executive Director Sarah Helm says that drug checking is a vital harm reduction initiative and is especially important in light of surging consumption.
“With a growing and more volatile drug market, drug checking is one of the key tools we have to prevent harm,” she says. “Drug checking is still relatively young as a service, and the fact that more than 40% of clients are new to the service shows that there is still a lot of demand and room for growth.”
“Drug checking saves lives. Clients who visit the service get valuable information about what is in their drugs and how they can stay safer, and through New Zealand’s early warning system High Alert we’re able to tell the wider community when we find anything concerning.”
“12% of the samples we checked were not what people expected – that’s hundreds of people who were able to avoid harmful effects, hospitalisation or even overdose because they visited our service.”
The service saw a significant increase in cocaine, steroids and other performance and image enhancing substances (PIEDS), medicines, and etomidate brought in for testing in 2025, which Helm says is in line with trends in the drug market.
“One great thing about having a free, legal and confidential service like this is we can pick up and respond to changes in the market. The increase in the likes of PIEDS and etomidate has led to us developing a lot more harm reduction information for those substances.”
Notes:
View and download a copy of the report on the NZ Drug Foundation website: https://drugfoundation.org.nz/news-and-reports/report-what-we-saw-at-drug-checking-in-2025
The NZ Drug Foundation is one of three licenced drug checking providers running public clinics, alongside DISC Trust and KnowYourStuffNZ. The report only covers samples tested by the Foundation
NZ Drug Foundation runs drug checking 11am-3pm weekdays out of its Auckland office at 272A Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn, alongside other regular pop-up clinics and festivals.
People can find their nearest drug checking clinic on The Level: https://thelevel.org.nz/drug-checking-clinics
