PHF Science’s role in drug and substance checking is one of the key ways we support initiatives to reduce harm from drugs. Through analysis of substances of concern, including new and emerging substances, we’re helping to make our communities safer.
According to a report from Te Puna Whakaiti Pāmamae Kai Whakapiri New Zealand Drug Foundation, nearly three people on average die from accidental drug overdose every week.
Not knowing the exact substance can be a risk factor for drug overdose where the potency or dosage aren’t known. In June this year, one person died and five others ended up in hospital following suspected overdoses of GHB in Wellington. GHB, commonly known as fantasy or liquid ecstasy, is part of a group of substances that have similar effects but varying potency. Often, these substances are sold interchangeably, so the difference in dosage between the desired effect and a fatal overdose can be a matter of millilitres. Scientific analysis of these drugs can help to determine which substance is present and provide drug harm reduction advice.
How Drug Checking services in New Zealand work
Drug Checking services are free and confidential to use, allowing members of the public to have a drug sample analysed to indicate its likely composition. Drug Checking involves rapid testing of substances, using reagent colour tests, test strips, and spectroscopy, in which a chemical fingerprint of the sample is collected and compared to an extensive chemical library. These techniques are quick-to-use, portable for in-field analysis, including at events and festivals, and provide reliable results.
PHF Science’s role in Drug Checking
New substances and complex mixtures can be tricky to analyse using in-field screening tests. That’s where PHF Science’s Drug Chemistry team gets involved. Samples that are associated with harm or can’t be identified at the clinic or in the field are sent to us for analysis. If a substance of concern is discovered, we work with High Alert, New Zealand’s Drug Early Warning System, to issue nationwide notifications, warning people who use drugs and the wider community of the risks.
PHF Science is one of five licenced Drug Checking providers in Aotearoa. We carry out laboratory analysis on approximately 2% of samples submitted to Drug Checking providers each year. We also maintain the equipment and chemical libraries used by the Drug Checking providers and provide training and scientific advice. There are now 17 portable spectrometers available for use nationwide.
New Zealand has a unique drug landscape
Historically, our drug trends lag behind other countries – largely due to our size and geographical isolation – but this is changing. It can also take time for information about the risks of new and novel substances to become available. With a growing number of these compounds being detected in our communities, having insight into international drug trends and a way for people to get their drugs checked is critical in preventing fatal overdoses and drug-related harm. Of particular concern are nitazenes, highly potent synthetic opioids with the potential to cause serious harm.
Early warning helps save lives
The High Alert early warning system has been gaining traction over the nearly six years it’s been in operation. As of November 2025, High Alert had 1.9 million page views and 3.2 million users across Instagram and Facebook. Of the High Alert notifications issued to date, over half are associated with Drug Checking detections, highlighting how vital this work is to making our communities safer.
Read more:
- PHF Science's work to reduce harm from drugs
- Research paper: Detection and characterisation of a new nitazene analogue, butodesnitazene: A collaborative approach to the identification of novel psychoactive substances through Drug Checking
- Research paper: Identification and characterisation of the recently detected cathinone N-cyclohexyl pentylone
- The Level: Drug Checking results and has details on drug clinic locations
New Zealand was the first country to legalise Drug Checking services in 2021. Having this service available does not promote illicit drug use or claim that illicit drug use is safe. It instead allows for an open conversation about the risks, enabling people to make informed decisions about drug use overall reducing drug-harm in the community.