Following the success of a pill-testing clinic for drug users in Brisbane, Queensland will open a second clinic at the Gold Coast in July.
The weekly clinic allows users to anonymously get their drugs safety tested without being reported to the police. Chemist Dhayaalini Nadarajan said many people would otherwise have no way of knowing for sure what their drugs contained. One batch of methamphetamine actually turned out to be Epsom salts, while one unknown sample turned out to be merely a mixture of starch, caffeine, and paracetamol.
Cameron Francis says many clients indicate they will take lower doses when they learn how much they are really taking."We know from overseas when drug-checking services are widely available, it starts to shape the entire drug market," Mr Francis said. Mr Francis said the clinic also provided education to users around harm minimisation and what dosages were dangerous.