The New Zealand Drug Foundation wants permanent drug testing sites to be allowed in cities around the country where people can get their party drugs tested for safety before they take them.
This hasn't stopped a group of volunteers who for the last few years have been setting up shop at music festivals around the country, testing drugs and potentially saving lives.
"We've seen around the world at different music festivals and nightclubs where people are using different drugs thinking it's something else, and they're dying. And so bottom line for us is, is there a way to stop that from happening? Well, yes there is," said Ross Bell, executive director of NZ Drug Foundation.
He says what's needed is not only a law change to bring testing out of the shadows, but an attitude shift as well.
"Humans have used drugs for centuries. That's not going to change. The drugs are going to change, the chemists are going to change things. And we need new modern responses to deal with these new times," Mr Bell said.
“I don't actually think that a death sentence is an appropriate consequence for breaking the drug laws
Wendy Allison of the group Know Your Stuff NZ has been testing drugs at festivals for three years.
"The current drug laws are not working. People are taking drugs regardless of the law. And there is a view that if people die then they deserve it. And I don't actually think that a death sentence is an appropriate consequence for breaking the drug laws," Ms Allison said.
A sample of the drug is placed and tested by a machine, with data available immediately on what the substance contains.
"Technically we probably are breaking the law. But we have to remember that it's 2017 and New Zealand's drug law was passed in 1975. These drugs didn't exist back then. This technology didn't exist back then," Mr Bell said.
"This is the new reality that it could take one rogue chemical to kill a whole lot of people. This is certainly what's happening in North America with Fentonol. New Zealand has even experienced this more recently with synthetic cannabinoid products potentially killing 20 Kiwis," he said.
SHARE ME