Sale for DIY drug testing kits soar 110 per cent following music festival drug overdoses

Sales of do-it-yourself drug testing kits are soaring in Sydney after a string of recent deaths at music festivals. But even those selling them admit they should not be relied on alone for safety, saying “they’re better than nothing”.

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Sales of do-it-yourself drug testing kits are soaring in Sydney after a string of recent deaths at music events.

But even those selling them admit they should not be relied on alone for safety, saying “they’re better than nothing”.

An EZ Test “MDMA purity: semi-quantitative test” kit purchased by The Daily Telegraph at an Off Ya Tree store in Darlinghurst this week comes with a vial for a user to put a sample of the drug in to detect how strong a cap or pill is.

MDMA purity test kit people can buy to test how strong a cap or pill is. Picture: Derrick Krusche

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Other kits on sale at the store purport to test for the presence of certain chemicals in ecstasy pills, including amphetamines and PMA, which is known colloquially as “Dr. Death”.

Businessman Steve Bourke, who imports more than 2400 kits at a time from Dutch company EZ Test to be sold at 70 stores across NSW, said sales have spiked by 110 per cent in the last 12 months.

DIY test kit sales are on the rise. Picture: Derrick Krusche

Mr Bourke has recently had to take on more staff to cope with the increased demand following four drug-related deaths at NSW music festivals in the past year.

“(The kits) give you knowledge about what’s in (a drug) — it’s not to say you should put it in your mouth,” he said.

“I think the power is within the knowledge. I’ve heard people say it can’t save your life — that’s rubbish … it’s better than nothing.”

One festival-goer revealed how she hid drugs inside a condom to sneak into the Field Day Festival last week. Picture: Derrick Krusche

Mr Bourke said the MDMA purity kit helped users identify how strong a pill was.

“If we’re testing MDMA caps and it comes back as the highest category I just think it’s really good to know that, because someone can make a decision on whether or not to take it at all or only half.”

A picture from inside the grounds of the 2019 Field Day music festival held in The Domain on New Year’s Day. Picture: Derrick Krusche

But the Australian Medical Association has warned the kits could lull drug users into a “false sense of security”.

“I don’t think I would be advising the online purchasing of equipment that hasn’t been properly certified,” said AMA NSW vice president Dr Danielle McMullen.

“Generally, things that are easily available for at-home use are not as effective as bigger, more commercial-level pill testing.”

Dr David Caldicott, who helped design a pill testing trial in Canberra, backed more sophisticated testing. “One of the biggest concerns we have is you have pills that contain MDMA and ecstasy but also contain a different ingredient.”