60 OWeek drug tests carried out
KETAMINE as well as MDMA was tested at OUSA’s recent drug checking trial — and while only 60 tests were carried out on drugs brought in by students and the wider public, the true number of people consuming illicit substances during Orientation Week is believed to be much higher.
NZ Drug Foundation policy and information officer Samuel Andrews, who helped carry out the drug testing last week, said while the bulk of people who had their drugs tested over the fourday period thought they had MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy — there were ‘‘a handful’’ who believed they had the anaesthetic ketamine and wanted it tested.
One in five pills tested suggested people were wrong about the substance they thought they were taking, but the test gave only an indication of what was in the drug.
The reagent test turned dark purple for MDMA and other colours for different drugs, for instance cathinones, making it possible for MDMA to mask the presence of other substances.
When it came to testing keta mine, the test turned a lighter colour, making it less likely ketamine could be masked.
Mr Andrews said generally the drug testing services worked with a spectrometer, yielding a more reliable result, but it was unavailable for OWeek.
‘‘We’ve been really careful not to give people false confidence,’’ Mr Andrews said.
However, while the testing would not have picked up everything, he ‘‘definitely’’ thought it contributed to reducing harm and potentially saved some students a trip to hospital.
Testers also gave giving people information sessions after they received their results.
Know Your Stuff project manager Finn Boyle, who also helped test the drugs, said the university had its own spectrometers and if OUSA wanted to provide more drug testing it might be a case of working with the university until it was confident enough to use the technology.
About 60 drug tests had been carried out, but the testers interacted with more than 60 people, as some arrived in groups, Mr Boyle said.
The number was low when set against the number of illicit drug users believed to be present.
However, the results were consistent with all the other drug testing Know Your Stuff and the Drug Foundation had carried out at festivals this year.
In the 2018 and 2019 festival season, the associations had been carrying out testing at eight or nine festivals, rather than the usual six.
Mr Andrews said the Drug Foundation also saw scope to test future large studentled events at the University of Otago such as Re:Ori, and was ‘‘definitely having those conversations’’ with OUSA.