The CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service Program Evaluation: Final Report has found strong community support with almost all clients reporting they would recommend the service to others.
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the final evaluation into the first six months showed CanTEST is a valuable service providing Canberrans with access to support and advice without fear of judgement.
“The ACT continues to lead the nation with our evidence-based approach in treating drug use as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue.
“70 per cent of clients using the service had never accessed a healthcare worker for information or advice about drug use. CanTEST not only provides people with chemical analysis of drugs, but it also provides access to drop-in nurse consultations offering general health, sexual health and mental health advice,” said Minister Stephen-Smith.
Key findings from the report include:
- Half of the drugs tested were found to contain a substance not expected by the person presenting the substance.
- People using the service were less likely to take the drug after testing if it contained something unexpected.
- In total, one in ten samples tested resulted in the client discarding their drug after testing.
Since opening its doors, a range of drugs have been brought into the service for testing, including MDMA, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine and psychedelics. In many cases the substances tested were not what people expected them to be.
In its first eleven months of operation, CanTEST tested more than 1,000 samples, and continued to see more than 10 per cent of samples being voluntarily discarded by clients following testing.
The service delivered more than 1,400 health and alcohol and drug interventions to individuals and groups in its first year, with some clients receiving multiple interventions in one visit.
The service has also contributed to information about the drugs circulating in the Canberra community, which allows health services and the wider community to learn about and respond to dangerous substances earlier.
The evaluation report made a number of recommendations to improve the service, including engaging additional analytical chemists, increasing surge capacity for when events are held in Canberra, and reviewing staffing, opening hours and days of operation.
“The 2023‑24 Budget included $1.2 million to extend CanTEST until December 2024. This will allow further consideration of the service model to ensure it is sustainable in the longer term and give us time to fully review the recommendations of the evaluation.
“We know the safest option is not to take drugs and this will always be our advice to the community. However, we recognise there is also a need for initiatives that reduce the harms for people who still choose to use drugs.
“The ACT Government will continue to invest in evidence-based and practice informed policies to reduce alcohol and other drug-related harm for individuals, families and the broader Canberra community,” said Minister Stephen-Smith.
CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service is run by Directions Health Services in partnership with Pill Testing Australia and Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy.
Located on the ground floor of the City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street Civic, the free and confidential service is open every Thursday from 3pm – 6pm and Friday from 6pm – 9pm.
Quotes attributable to Directions CEO, Bronwyn Hendry:
“CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service has the potential to save lives, not only for people attending the service, but also across our community. We know the information CanTEST publishes, including test results, harm reduction strategies, and identification of concerning substances, is circulated widely within the ACT and throughout Australia.”
“We also know that young people attending CanTEST communicate the advice they receive to their peers, and when unexpected results were found, 32% said they would not take the substance.”
“The CanTEST consortium commends the ACT Government’s health-first approach to drug use, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from this service.”
Quotes attributable to Australian National University Associate Professor, Anna Olsen:
“Half the drugs were found to contain a substance not expected by the service user, giving us new information about the drug market and, importantly, showing a need for drug checking to improve community safety.”
“This collaboration between alcohol and other drug service providers, harm reduction experts, the government and researchers has allowed for the collection of new health information. Using novel approaches, we are advancing knowledge about harm reduction practices and the impact of health education on people who use drugs.”
A copy of the report will be provided upon request.
