The alarming letter that made the premier change his mind

An urgent document exposing the presence of a deadly synthetic drug 100 times more powerful than heroin in NSW pushed Chris Minns to launch the state’s landmark pill testing trial months after he ruled out the move.

In a letter delivered to Minns and Health Minister Ryan Park, co-chairs of the state government’s drug summit Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden warned of growing evidence that nitazenes, a lab-manufactured synthetic opioid often masquerading as less potent illicit party drugs, were spreading in the NSW drug supply and pre-existing protective measures weren’t keeping up with the deadly risks they posed.

The NSW drug checking trial was announced in December following interim advice provided by the co-chairs of the state’s drug summit. Credit: Stephen Kiprillis

Tebbutt and Brogden said “immediate action” could not wait until the final drug summit report, released in April, and that a drug checking trial represented an urgent opportunity to save lives ahead of the music festival season.

“One issue that has been consistently raised is the urgent priority to establish a drug checking service in NSW,” wrote Tebbutt and Brogden in the December 9 document obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws.

“It is particularly important to consider an improved harm reduction response in light of the growing evidence of dangerous new adulterants in the drug supply, such as nitazenes, and concern for the potential harm that can be caused.”

Pill testing has been available at two music festivals in NSW since Minns announced the state’s drug checking trial 10 days after receiving Tebbutt and Brogden’s interim advice, which Park requested amid pressure from Labor MPs and reform advocates.

Nitazenes were linked to a cluster of 20 severe drug overdoses in Penrith in April last year, while the state’s first cases of nitazene dependence were observed in July after four young adults were hospitalised following the inhalation of an illicit vape liquid purchased through an online group chat.

Australian Federal Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Paula Hudson sounded a fresh warning on nitazenes this month, warning that “if you choose to take it, you are gambling with your life”.

Drug checking tents have been visited on 268 occasions across two music festivals since the trial started, with MDMA, ketamine and cocaine among the most popular of the 195 samples tested.

Park said the government was “concerned about the risk nitazenes presents to our community”, and would continue efforts to respond to severe drug toxicity in the market.

Suzanne Nielsen, deputy director at the Monash Addiction Research Centre, said that nitazene detections have surged in the past two years, since attracting widespread attention in 2019.

“The number of alerts we’ve had in the past year is as many as other years combined,” Nielsen said. “The threat is certainly very real – if these became common in our market, the amount of harm would be really significant.”

Krista Siefried, the deputy director at the National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs, said that nitazenes “continue to show up where they’re not anticipated”, and that better monitoring and health messaging is required to reduce their harm.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.