Massey falling behind in drug testing
Drugs are like children. You don’t have to have them. You don’t even have to associate with them. But unless you decide to ship yourself off to Antarctica and live the rest of your life on a drifting icecap, you’re going to encounter them.
Recreational drugs aren’t for everybody, but for a lot of New Zealand youth, drugs are fun. They dictate the vibrant atmospheres of clubs and festivals. They create dreamy mellow paradises from the setting of a stoners lounge. They provide a temporary escape from the often-rigid reality of our world. There are so many pleasantries that drugs provide us with, but like most good things, they have an extremely dark side.
‘The Level’ and ‘High Alert’ are two national organisations actively trying to make drug usage safer among New Zealanders. They are both driven by the same sole mission: to be there for people who use recreational drugs. Both organisations offer information, support and tips on drugs, as well as free, anonymous drug testing clinics, and warnings on potentially harmful substances circulating the New Zealand ‘drug market’.
Not including alcohol, mind-altering substances cannot be purchased from a wholly reliable distributor because of the obvious fact that they are illegal. For this reason alone, purchasing recreational drugs will never come with a guarantee that the consumer is getting exactly what they paid for. You see the problem here?
Although we still have a long way to go in regards to eliminating the risk of spiked drugs, there are two major organisations working hard for this very cause.
High Alert provides an online platform where people can anonymously report unusual side effects from drugs, which then gets sent out as an email alert to subscribed New Zealanders, warning them of the potential spiked drug in circulation.
The Level actually offers free drug checking clinics around New Zealand. The clinics are free and entirely confidential, meaning they won’t take any of your personal details and won’t take any drugs off of you. You also don’t run any risk of getting into trouble with the law. The Level is purely about making sure New Zealanders know exactly what drugs they are taking, and keeping everybody safe. Information on the times and locations of these clinics can be found at thelevel.org.nz.
Otago and Victoria University have also started taking initiative and running the same drug checking stations on campus, at certain times of the year, and many Massey students feel that their university needs to take the same step.
“It’s just such a positive thing. So many people, especially older associates at Massey, believe that by checking students' drugs for them, you are pretty much promoting drug usage, but that just isn’t true. It’s quite disappointing that Massey is so far behind in that aspect,” says Sophie Tooney, Massey grad student.
“I’ve been up to Vic once before to get some gear tested and it was great. I’ve wanted to use it so many more times but it has never been open. I definitely think that New Zealand needs more clinics and spaces like that. One for every university would be ideal.”
“I think it would be such an asset to the University, and prevent so many cases where students end up in hospital because they’ve been spiked or something. If drug checking was more accessible, which it would be if it was on campus, then it would make the student drug culture just that much more secure,” says Liam Bailey, another Massey student.
“Not only would drug testing stop people taking spiked drugs, but it would also stop people making them in the first place. If dealers knew they couldn’t get away with selling spiked drugs as easily, it surely just wouldn’t be a thing,” says student Grace McNair.
The Level and High Alert released a statement saying, “Over half the substances tested in the summer of 2020/2021 were actually synthetic cathinones (bath salts) and not the MDMA that people thought they had.”
Additionally, “In New Zealand, most cocaine is not ‘pure’ and is mixed with fillers like caffeine, creatine, and glutamine. It can also be mixed with other drugs like amphetamines.”
Even milder drugs like cannabis can still be laced with harmful additives. “It is a good idea to smell your cannabis before you use it. If it has an unusual chemical smell, it is likely to be synthetic cannabinoids. These drugs have much different and more dangerous effects than cannabis.”
For a lot of young people though, especially on a big night out or at a festival, the euphoria of being high outweighs the potential risk of the drugs being spiked.
“Everybody runs that same risk of getting laced, but if you weren’t in it to get fucked up then you wouldn’t be doing it,” says Jordan, a recent Massey graduate.
He says, “Sometimes the person you’re buying from will send you a picture of a home purity test that they’ve done, which is usually enough reassurance. But again, there’s no way to be sure that it’s legit without testing it yourself.”
“Buying from a dealer with a good reputation, or somebody you or your mates have bought from before is another way to get that extra bit of trust in what you’re taking.”
Cosmic Corner and Hemp Store reagent tests are a great step in the direction of ensuring safe recreational drug circulation. They are do-it-yourself, at home testing kits that instantly tell you whether your drugs have been spiked, yet in the just-out-of-isolation flurry and the summer festival season, their supply runs out faster than ur dad. This is problematic for obvious reasons. What New Zealand needs is widespread, confidential, reliable and easily accessible resource that can guarantee the safety of our recreational drugs, that doesn’t cause any scepticism because of the fact that DruGs aRe iLleGaL.
For all of us though, the extent of our accessible drug testing resources just shouldn’t be good enough. Young people in their prime experimentation years should not have to play Russian roulette every time they want to have a night out with their good friend Molly. It is about time boomers and straight-edged politicians stop sweeping youth drug habits under the rug, placing so much of their time and energy into scare tactics as opposed to providing methods of playing it safe. The curiosity of drugs is never going to cease in young people, it’s in our nature, so they may as well stop treating it like a disease to be cured, and start implementing more ways to reduce drug-related harm.
Whether you’re a saint or a sinner, advocating for a stronger partnership between universities and drug safety organisations an important aspect of preventing drug mishaps. Nobody wants to end up in a situation where they feel out of control and unsafe in their own body, especially under the influence of drugs. We need to stomp out the stigma surrounding recreational drugs and start protecting our people by providing outlets for taking drugs safely.
