The CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service will continue to be funded until June 2027, as the ACT government extends its funding by $1.8 million.

The government says that since the service opened in July 2022 under a six-month pilot, CanTEST has tested more than 2600 samples, with more than 10 per cent of samples being voluntarily discarded by clients following testing.

CanTEST provides chemical analysis of drugs and pills to help users better understand the unknown and potentially dangerous substances in illicit drugs. It also provides access to drop-in nurse consultations offering general health, sexual health and mental health advice.

A range of drugs have been brought into the service for testing, including highly dangerous synthetic opioids, MDMA, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine and psychedelics. In many cases the substances tested were not what people expected them to be.

The service has also contributed to information about the drugs circulating in the Canberra community, which allows health services and the wider community to learn about and respond to dangerous substances earlier.

CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service is run by Directions Health Services in partnership with Pill Testing Australia and Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy.

Located on the ground floor of the City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street, Civic, the free service is open every Thursday from 3pm-6pm and Friday, 6pm-9pm.