Chemists at a pill testing site in Canberra have discovered three recreational drugs never before seen in Australia.
Users brought what they believed to be Ritalin, ketamine and amphetamine to be tested at CanTEST, Canberra’s drug testing facility, only to find they had been sold the mysterious chemicals.
Australian National University Professor Malcolm McLeod, who made the discoveries, said one substance submitted for testing was sold as Ritalin but was actually a new variant of cathinone. Otherwise known as bath salts, the drug comes from a highly dangerous family of chemicals that in some cases have proven lethal.
“Although there are a range of cathinone variants circulating in the community, finding a new one is obviously of concern because we don’t know how it will affect people or what the health consequences are,” McLeod said in the report.
“The second substance we analysed, which the client believed to be a ketamine-like substance, was in fact a new type of benzylpiperazine stimulant, often used as a substitute for MDMA. While derivatives of these stimulants first emerged in New Zealand in the early 2000s, we actually don’t know a lot about them.”
McLeod said for the third substance, the client was having some uncertainty about exactly what they had bought.
“They thought it was a cathinone drug, a stimulant that can have similar effects to amphetamines, but wanted to have it tested to avoid any nasty surprises,” he said.
“We later identified the drug to be a new phenethylamine drug known as propylphenidine. Phenethylamines are a category of stimulant drugs that includes amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA.”
It’s not yet known how dangerous these substances are or what short and long-term health impacts they have on the user.
This isn’t the first time unknown substances have been found in Australia. In October 2022, a mysterious drug sold as ketamine was found to be circulating Canberra with similar effects. Also in 2022, chemists found a highly dangerous opioid being sold as oxycodone.
The new finds come as pill-testing laws dominate the headlines. Earlier this month, eight people were taken to hospital in critical condition after suspected drug overdoses at Hardmission Festival in Melbourne.
At the time, Victorian Ambulance union secretary Danny Hill said pill testing was essential for preventing such incidents.
“It can only help to have the right information out there, the ability for someone to check if this drug is a deadly variant,” he said.
“Not one of these drugs are safe but at least people can detect whether this is the very lethal variant that has done so much harm to east eight people who’ve required critical care intervention.”
With such unpredictable chemicals circulating in unknown quantities, experts says pill testing needs to be legalised to save lives.
