At least three previously unknown drugs are circulating the recreational drug market, researchers in Canberra have discovered, triggering concerns over the short and long-term health impacts the new substances could have on people.
According to scientists and clinicians from The Australian National University (ANU), the drugs could have effects similar to other stimulant-like substances such as MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and ketamine, a drug used as an anaesthetic for medical purposes.
Professor Malcolm McLeod, chemistry lead at ANU's CanTEST lab, said researchers had so far been unable to work out how dangerous the fresh trio of drugs may be.
One substance submitted for testing, which the person believed was a derivative of Ritalin, a stimulant used to treat ADHD, was actually a new variant of cathinone or 'bath salts' – a dangerous family of chemicals that in some cases have proven lethal.
Although a range of cathinone variants are in circulation, McLeod said "finding a new one is obviously of concern because we don't know how it will affect people or what the health consequences are".
The second substance analysed by McLeod and his team was a drug that a person believed to be a ketamine-like substance, but in fact was a new type of benzylpiperazine stimulant, often used as a substitute for MDMA.
Derivatives of these stimulants first emerged in New Zealand in the early 2000s, but "little is known about them," McLeod said.
The third drug was given to the lab by someone uncertain about its chemical makeup.
"They thought it was a cathinone drug, a stimulant that can have similar effects to amphetamines, but wanted to have it tested to avoid any nasty surprises," McLeod said.
Scientists identified it as a new phenethylamine drug known as propylphenidine.
Phenethylamines are a category of stimulants, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
Dr David Caldicott, clinical lead for CanTEST and Pill Testing Australia, said the findings showed exactly how the service can inform and advise people about their choices.
"It turns out that drug checking services can not only change the behaviours of consumers, but when done rigorously, can also identify totally novel drugs as they emerge, and possibly even before they get a hold on local markets," he said.
It's not the first time the service has detected new substances.
In October 2022, chemists discovered a mysterious new recreational drug that shared similar qualities to ketamine but had a unique chemical makeup.
The drug had not been seen in Australia before.
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Just months after opening, chemists made a potentially life-saving discovery after detecting a highly dangerous opioid in pills that were falsely sold as oxycodone, triggering a public health alert.
Dr Caldicott urged other states to roll out similar testing services across the country.
"We know drug checking services like CanTEST help change drug behaviours and reduce harms for users."
An ANU-led evaluation of the first six months of the Canberra facility found one-in-10 samples submitted for testing were discarded once the client learnt what was in them.
It also found more than half of the drugs tested at the clinic were not what the user expected.
