Pill testing at music festivals is set to become law as legislation begins a rush through parliament in time for the start of festival season. It’s a change welcomed by Courtenay Chenery, who remembers how a rogue pill led to the most miserable New Year’s of her life. “Hey Dad…I’m not feeling very well. I … Read more
Pill testing at New Zealand’s festivals will be legal this summer as the Labour government prepares to rush legislation through parliament. And, as Justin Giovannetti writes, the new law could signal more significant changes next year for the country’s drugs. Most of parliament is supporting Labour’s move to make pill testing legal, taking it out … Read more
If the yes votes prevail and it’s legalised, employers will need to figure out where to draw the line for worker cannabis use, write employment law specialists Susan Rowe and Shaun Brookes. With the referendum on the legalisation of cannabis looming, employers are asking what legalisation might mean for their workforce. Will an employee be … Read more
The drug-testing organisation KnowYourStuffNZ has issued an advisory around potent MDMA pills in circulation this summer. High-dose ecstasy is in circulation ahead of New Year’s Eve, according to KnowYourStuffNZ. Their testing operations have identified the MDMA pills already this season, and says they’re “likely to be found around the country over the holiday period”. According … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First holds crucial party conference, roving AOS trial sparks concerns, and Mediaworks facing dramatic days ahead. The most pivotal political party in the country right now has held their annual conference, a year out from what will be a make or break election. NZ First … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Prefab housing factory opened amid huge need, worrying new measles developments, and public shows common sense on drug testing. A new factory has been opened to produce building materials, which if scaled up could have a significant impact on construction time and costs. Anne Gibson at … Read more
Four festival-goers were admitted to hospital with drug-related issues after Friday’s event at Mt Smart Stadium. A fellow partier shares her experience of the night. As told to Madeleine Chapman. I was hyping up for Schoolboy Q. Figured he’d play some old school tunes, some bangers. Honestly, I didn’t really care much for who was … Read more
The resistance to drug testing from the NZ First spokesperson for law and order could have severe consequences, writes the team at KnowYourStuffNZ. For five years KnowYourStuffNZ has been carrying out drug checking at festivals. In that time, we have helped thousands of festival-goers to make safer and more informed decisions. We help people avoid … Read more
A new ‘bath salt’ mimicking MDMA has been found circulating at the University of Otago re-orientation week. Drug testing by the New Zealand Drug Foundation has revealed a batch of the previously unidentified substance eutylone is currently circulating at the University of Otago’s re-orientation week. Eutylone, first detected by KnowYourStuffNZ in December 2018 (known then … Read more
Wastewater testing provides an objective, standardised way of assessing levels of drug usage, and that has manifold benefits, writes Brent Gilpin of ESR. There are suggestions from time to time that wastewater drug testing is an erosion of our civil liberties and freedoms, as if we’ve unwittingly dropped our trousers and given our “information” to the … Read more
MDMA pills can kill. But most fatalities are a result of a combination of factors, not just the drug itself. Nicole Lee explains MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), commonly referred to as ecstasy, was manufactured as a potential pharmaceutical early last century. It had some limited use in the 1970s as a therapeutic aid in trauma treatment and … Read more
Drug-testing group Know Your Stuff has warned that tests at five events in New Zealand this summer have found MDMA pills laced with bath salts or N-ethylpentylone, a substance linked to deaths overseas and hospitalisations in New Zealand. This follows Police Minister Stuart Nash this week saying, in the wake of stories around toxic drugs found … Read more
With the festival season just around the corner, KnowYourStuffNZ founder Wendy Allison explains why drug laws need to change so that they can help people find out what is in the substances they plan to consume, and avoid causing themselves enormous harm The Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 was made in a time when the range of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive increase in overseas teacher recruitment drive, NZ activists reject Israeli court ruling, and the horrible state of Lake Horowhenua is in focus. The government is ramping up efforts to recruit new teachers from overseas, and to lure NZ-trained teachers back home. The numbers being sought are … Read more
A freakishly potent opioid has been discovered at a music festival in New Zealand. What is it, and what does its presence in this country mean? What’s all this then? Fentanyl, a drug responsible for thousands upon thousands of overdose deaths in the US and Europe, has been discovered at a festival in New Zealand. … Read more
A surprisingly strong batch of MDMA has arrived on our fair shores. We know people are going to take it, so Wendy Allison, founder of pill testing organisation KnowYourStuffNZ, says we need to make harm reduction easier. Historically, when people have taken “ecstasy” in New Zealand it has not usually been MDMA. It is by … Read more
For nearly 25 years Dr Fiona Measham has documented how and why humans do drugs. She spoke to Simon Day about how helping people know what exactly they’re taking is making doing drugs safer in the UK. For all of human history we’ve loved getting intoxicated. Almost every society, tribe and culture has taken drugs … Read more
For the first time in NZ school sports history, players at this year’s National 1st XV semi-finals will be subject to anti-doping testing, reports Scotty Stevenson. The New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council (NZSSSC) and Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ) have advised school principals of their intention to carry out anti-doping testing at this year’s … Read more