A peer’s guide to the ACT pill testing service – By one of its creators, Chris Gough, Executive Director of CAHMA

Safer Using
Written By NUAA Admin

ACT’s new pill testing service, called CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service, has opened, and Users News got the low-down from Chris Gough, who is the Executive Director (ED) of ACT’s Drug User Organisation (DUO), Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation & Advocacy (CAHMA). Chris is one of the peers who has played an important role in getting the service running. 

UN: Where did the idea come from and what’s the battle been like to get this in place?   

Chris: Pill testing (aka drug checking, or drug testing) has been done successfully in lots of places around the world, but the idea to do this in the ACT came from the Pill Testing Australia (PTA) consortium. They've been pushing for pill testing in Australia for years, and they gave each State and Territory the offer to let PTA run a free pilot of pill testing service at a music festival. ACT is the only government that let them do it, and PTA ran 2 successful pilots at music festivals. Those pilots found dangerous substances and adulterants, and potentially saved lives. ANU’s evaluation of the pilots really helped to make the case to the government that a fixed-site was needed.  

Caption: Chris Gough, centre, representing CAHMA in front of media at the launch of CanTEST

CAHMA, PTA and Directions Health Services (who are now the lead service running CanTEST) were the main organisations advocating to the government to fund it. We spoke to key policymakers to make sure that they understood it was important to have a system in place where people could test their drugs, and that would also allow ACT to get ahead of any dangerous substances before they became widespread. The value of such a service became obvious when the AFP seized a shipment of carfentanil (a synthetic opioid that is thousands of times stronger than heroin). If it had made it to the street, by the time we heard about the first overdose, it would have been too late to get a warning out to save other people’s lives.  

Even though pill testing is an idea that makes sense, the battle has still been hard, because drugs are a highly politicised issue and governments are afraid to “Look soft on drugs”. Luckily, the ACT Government is a Greens/Labor coalition, and they understand harm reduction. They’ve ended up being really supportive of our efforts and courageous. If it weren’t for that, we would not have this service.  

The government is making big changes to drug policy because they are a progressive government, and the public and the alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) sector are supportive of the changes. That’s why cannabis has been decriminalised here, and why we are also on the verge of decriminalising the possession of small quantities of other drugs.  

Once the government announced ACT Health would fund a 6-month pilot of a fixed-site pill testing service, CAHMA’s advocacy didn’t end. CAHMA is still an important partner at the table because we're run by peers, and work for peers, and we can help make sure the service meets the needs of its users.  

UN: Can you run users through step-by-step what it's like to get something tested at the service?  

Chris: My life for the last 3 months has been to work out how to make this the best experience for people, so I’m so glad I get to talk about this!  

The testing service is open on Thursdays (between 10am and 1pm) and Fridays (between 6pm and 9pm). 

It is free and open to anyone. You don’t need to be an ACT resident.  

The service is hidden inside the City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street, Canberra, and so when you walk into the centre, no one from the outside can see that you’re going down a corridor into the testing service. 

Caption: The waiting room at CanTEST is a vibe — and has heaps of harm reduction education resources to entertain you while you wait.

Once you arrive, you will be greeted by a peer who gets you to sign a legal waiver so that the service is not liable for any of the harms that might happen as a result of the information and advice they provide you.  

You’re meant to write your full name and sign it, but they don’t ask for ID. It is a bit of a weird system. If CAHMA had its way, there would be no waiver, but this is what we must do to get the pilot up. The waiver then goes in a locked box that is filed securely. The rest of the process is completely confidential 

We then ask people to give us a code name (such as ‘Donald Duck’). Every time you get something tested, you can say your same code name, and the benefit is that we can then do research on what drugs individuals are bringing in, and this will help us with doing a good evaluation that gets the pilot extended.  

A group of up to 9 people can come in with one substance for testing. They each sign a waiver and then pick 1 person to go through the system and be a spokesperson for the group. Once it's analysed, the info is fed back to the whole group. 

Before you submit your samples, we ask you a few questions. We also ask you if you want to do a quick optional survey before and after you submit your substance and get your results. You can get a gift voucher if you do the survey. The survey doesn’t ask for any identifying details. It asks stuff like “What do you think the drug/substance is?”, “Where did you get it from?”, “Have you used this substance prior?”. These questions will help us improve the service and help with the pilot’s evaluation. 

You can submit up to 5 samples in a visit. But if everyone brings in 5 samples, it will slow the system down, so the limit might change so we can help as many people as possible with our limited resources.  

The sample goes into TWO of our fancy testing machines to be chemically analysed. We have an FTIR and UPLC machine, which can then tell us the 2 most prevalent substances in your sample. Then, depending on your sample, we can also give you a rough estimate of purity. 

Once the results come back, you can talk with a peer educator or AOD harm reduction practitioner, depending on who you want to see and what staff are available at the time. They’ll tell you what drug you likely have, and give you advice about the safest way to use it—and they go into as much—or as little—detail as you want. 

There's a nurse on-site and a doctor on-call in case you have any other issues you want to discuss.  

The whole experience, from walking in and out the door is 15-20 minutes (and only a little bit longer if you do the surveys!)  

UN: Is the service run by peers?  

Chris: It is run by an interdisciplinary team that always has an identified peer worker (from CAHMA) on site. There is also a chemical analyst (from ANU), nurse, doctor and AOD practitioner (from Directions Health Services). 

UN: What can people take in? Can they test all substances, including liquids and tabs?  

Chris: You can’t bring your phone in, but we have free lockers there for your personal possessions.  

Bring in as little of the substance as is practical. Generally, it is best to just scrape off a bit of a pill or bring in a little bit of powder.  

Some substances and samples are harder —or impossible— for us to test. We won't be able to tell you the purity of your cannabis bud. Organic matter won't work. Any oil-based liquid won't work. Some liquids that aren't oil based can work. Anything on a blotter (such as LSD) is not going to work because it will pick up paper. But it might work if you put the blotter tab in filtered water — but to save us time, you’d need to do that beforehand. I haven't even gotten to use the machines myself yet — I’ll know more soon (I want to find out how it handles methadone)! 

UN: Will the service be connected to a public alerts system?  

Chris: Yes, all samples will be cross-checked by another ACT analytical laboratory (one that uses a lengthier and more detailed GCMS testing process) and any dangerous substances will be reported to ACT Health who may put out an alert in collaboration with CAHMA.  

UN: What if you’re not an ACT resident? Can people from other states, or internationals use the service? Do you have to give ID?  

Chris: You don’t have to be an ACT resident or show any ID. You also don’t need to bring a Medicare card.  

UN: Can people mail in substances and get their results without coming in face-to-face? 

Chris: Not at present. But tell CAHMA or the survey you want it! 

UN: Should people be worried about police catching you using it?  

Chris: It's in an ACT health centre that also contains a bunch of other health services, including an NSP (needle and syringe program). People can’t track which service you go into. There are no cameras inside 

This service is supported by ACT Government, and they also run the police, and the police are supportive of the service. The service also operates under the same harm reduction principles as an NSP. In the ACT the police won't police around an NSP. If you do get caught, then contact CAHMA and we will advocate for you.  

UN: What do you think the future is going to look like? 

Chris: I am hoping that before the 6-month trial ends, it will be made permanent, and that it will help other parts of Australia get services too.  

ANU are evaluating the service, to see if it works and if so, how it can be improved. One thing we’ll be looking at is whether the hours are right. We need people to let us know whether being open on Thursday and Friday works for people, or whether Saturday night would be better as well as whether we should be open longer than just 6 hours every week 

Please do our survey and/or give CAHMA your feedback.  

Suggested further reading:

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