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Responding in an emergency

The newness and number of synthetics mean that there are not substance-specific clinical pathways, however, general first aid helps....

Spotting a problem

Early warning system

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! A new drug has emerged. Unlike Lost in Space, we don’t have an early warning system for emerging synthetic dr......

All this talk about meth

Using meth? Worried about someone else's use? We've updated our MethHelp handbook and poster, which offer practical tips without judgement....

Talking to people using synthetics

If someone is around people using synthetics or already using them, they need information about safer use and how to access help....

Community responses to incidents

How to set up a community response group to co-ordinate any actions relating to a synthetic drug incidents...

Taking a reading of the pills

Journalist Russell Brown talks with those behind free drug checking, whose job is made all the more difficult for having to operate under th......

Festival-goers more informed - and more cautious

KnowYourStuffNZ have analysed results from drug checking they offered at several festivals around NZ over the summer. Read a summary of the ......

Parenting and drugs

Tips for parents and carers....

Treating hepatitis C

Information about Hepatitis C, find out what it is, common ways it is contracted, treatment and ways to find out if you have Hepatitis C....

Synthetics

Synthetic psychoactive substances often have very unpleasant effects, and none of them have been tested as safe. How to start a conversation......

Volatile substances

These toxic chemicals are commonly found, and carry a risk of sudden death. Having a conversation with a young person can help reduce harm....

Me and my interlock

The government has announced mandatory alcohol interlocks for some convicted drink drivers. Our correspondent talks about what it's like to ......

Keeping safer under summer skies

Photo essay: A day in the life of drug safety checking at a kiwi music festival....

Synthetics Crisis

Over 40 people have died from synthetic drugs in the past year. We see this as a public health crisis, which requires an urgent response....

Festival drug checking trial: Summary of results

During the 2016/2017 summer festival season, we helped community group KnowYourStuffNZ offer free drug testing to more than three hundred fe......

Did You Know: The facts about synthetics

Our new Did You Know video and poster explain what synthetic psychoactive substances are, why they are so unpredictable and dangerous, and h......

Open mic for gay men to talk sex and drugs without shame

Chemsex is believed to be on the increase amongst gay men, but it can expose participants to risk. A recent event encouraged men to speak op......

Drug checking: Credible, evidence-based and effective

This year, drug checking services have been more in demand than ever....

Being Safer

If you are using drugs, it is important to know the risks, your rights, and what you are using....

You think it’s MDMA – but is it?

You think it's MDMA - but it could be N-ethylpentylone, which is much more dangerous...

Drug Index

Get harm reduction information about common drugs in New Zealand. Each page describes the effects of using, advice for reducing risk, signs ......

LSD

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide or ‘acid’) can come as an odourless white powder, but is most commonly available in squares of blotting pape......

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are medications prescribed as sleeping pills, muscle relaxants, and to help treat anxiety, epilepsy and alcohol withdrawal....

Tobacco

Leaves from the tobacco plant contain nicotine, which is the active chemical in cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff or snus....

MDMA

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a chemical stimulant and the active ingredient in ecstasy....

Cocaine

Cocaine is a highly processed form of the coca leaf. It is usually a white odourless powder....

GHB

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was originally synthesised for use as an anaesthetic. Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) is a more potent version of GHB....

Heroin

Heroin is the most potent type of drug created from the opium poppy. It typically comes as a white or brown powder....

Alcohol

Alcohol is produced when grains, fruit or vegetables ferment and are distilled....

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine (meth) is one of a number of amphetamine-type drugs. Some have medical uses and are made by pharmaceutical companies....

Mythbusters: Dope driving: I'm a safer driver when I'm stoned - crap or fact?

Many pot smokers who smoke and drive will say they're fine to get behind the wheel. Mythbusters looks at the evidence to see whether this is......

A week of firsts: Drug checking at O-Week

University O-week is about helping new students to find their feet before study begins in earnest. It's also become notorious for unruly par......

Mythbusters: Is cannabis really 100 times safer than alcohol?

Smoking cannabis is 114 times safer than drinking booze. Many newspapers and websites ran headlines along these lines when they reported new......

Economics of drug law reform

We've always known that drug law reform is socially responsible. Now we know it's fiscally responsible too....

It's OK to talk about drugs in schools

Schools are being responsible teaching about drugs. Any debate about how best to do this is very welcome....

Cannabis

Cannabis is a preparation of the Cannabis Sativa plant that is used as a drug and medicine....

Music Festivals

Alcohol and other drugs are used at music festivals in New Zealand every Summer. While most enjoy this experience, legal and illegal substan......

Treatment smartest option for drug offenders

The New Zealand government could save millions of dollars by diverting New Zealanders with drug problems out of the court system and into th......

Keep calm and keep to the facts about novel synthetic substances

Dear media: In the stampede to get the story out first, please check your facts....

Honest alcohol and drug tools to help Kiwi teenagers

If you're regularly talking with teenagers and young people, it can be difficult knowing what to tell them about drugs. It's important to re......

Festival drug checking: Trying to save lives

The drug checking team will be back doing the rounds at music festivals this summer, practicing harm reduction and trying to save lives....

Drug Foundation welcomes decision to scrap mega-prison

The Government has announced they will not go ahead with plans to build a “mega prison” at Waikeria in the Waikato....

Updated: NZ Drug Foundation website

In April 2017 the Drug Foundation launched a refreshed version of the website. Pages have been revised and added to. Feedback welcome....

Opinion: To reduce drug-related harm, it’s time to be honest about the pleasure

Acknowledging the reasons most people actually use alcohol and other drugs could help them use them more safely, argues Global Drug Survey f......

Viewpoints: Medicinal cannabis paradigms, part 1

Dr David Caldicott argues that the evidence for its effectiveness seems real and that we should get on with exploring a medicinal regime in ......

Viewpoints: New tech for drug detection

It’s almost the stuff of science fiction. Will trending new handheld devices for identifying substances become an important and useful detec......

Misuse of Drugs amendment: A temporary fix while we address the real problem

MPs are currently hearing public submissions on a potentially significant change to our drug law - the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill. Here'......

Viewpoints: Is the jury still out on e-cigarettes?

Short of a pill that will magically take addiction away, are e-cigarettes the best smoking cessation device since the humble patch?...

Drug policy symposium an unprecedented event

Organisers are calling this week’s Healthy Drug Law Symposium the most significant drug policy discussion in New Zealand’s history....

2017 Symposium News Coverage

Listed here is news coverage of the 2017 Through the Maze: Health Drug Law parliamentary symposium...

Knowledge of and attitudes to illegal drugs

Last year, the Ministry of Health published a report on what kiwis know and think about illegal drugs. Not all the findings were predictable......

Regulating cannabis is the best option to protect public health

We all worry about the mental health risks of cannabis use by young New Zealanders. Right now, handing out a conviction and punishment is al......

Viewpoints: Introducing lockout laws

Lockout laws may just be the next weapon in New Zealand's arsenal against late night alcohol-fuelled violence. But just how effective are th......

Many follow the Silk Road trail

Amberleigh Jack embraces the dark side to investigate hidden and illicit drug marketplaces online....

Survey reveals drug driving concern

Results from the Drug Foundation’s survey into driving and drugs suggest “cannabis driving” is a serious road safety issue in New Zealand....

Q&A: Kathryn Leafe

CareNZ's new boss talks to Matters of Substance about how she's gone from running treatement centres in prisons, to running the Soweto marat......

Is Norway set to spark a drug policy revolution?

Until recently Norway has been wed to conservative drug law. This looks like it will change in a recent, sudden and surprising turn of event......

Q&A: Greg O'Connor

Greg O'Connor has seen a lot of change since he was elected President of the NZ Police Association....

ChEckiT out

The dance party scene is renowned for being up with the latest and best dance-enhancing substances. But sometimes things can go wrong. ChEck......

Review of Drug Utensils Regulation - submit now!

The Ministry of Health has recently taken an important initial step in addressing one of five priority areas of the National Drug Policy (ND......

Viewpoints: Should New Zealand have supervised injection sites?

Supervised injection sites are legally sanctioned, medically supervised facilities designed to reduce harm from injecting drug use. Overwhel......

Are you old enough?

Rob Zorn tackles the thorny issue of how to set a legal cannabis purchase age...

Prevention first

Police are uniquely placed to be first responders to alcohol, drug and mental health call-outs in our communities, but how do they fare? New......

Reducing drug harm in Fiji

Fiji may be an island paradise, but like any other country, it has its fair share of drug-related woes. Jacob Quinn looks at some local harm......

Through the maze - healthy drug law reform

The Law Commission's review of the Misuse of Drugs Act cannot come soon enough. The Drug Foundation has some ideas about how a new Act shoul......

Driving high

Cannabis and cars don’t mix. We know pot causes impairment, but just how much, and is it even that dangerous? Damian Christie looks at one o......

Fake it till you make it

It looks like cannabis, it has cannabis in the name, but is synthetic cannabis really cannabis? James Robinson investigates the health effec......

Reducing cannabis health harms

There is a wide spectrum of views on how much (or, in some cases, even whether) cannabis causes harm. Rob Zorn examines how harmful cannabis......

Ups and downs with Painkiller prescriptions

Over-prescription of opioid painkillers: How bad is it in NZ?...

Cracking good prevention

Fences at the top of cliffs are preferable to ambulances at the bottom. We know cannabis can cause harm, so how do we prevent people from us......

Synthetic solutions: the global response to ‘legal’ highs

In country after country a vast array of new psychoactive substances, rapidly spread via online sources, is causing havoc for law and policy......

The world watches

To legalise, or not to legalise: that is the question. Colorado, Washington and Uruguay have decided to go ahead with allowing the recreatio......

Moving to a healthy drug law by 2020

NZ Drug Foundation has developed a new model drug law based on evidence and experience. We believe it makes a lot of sense and would go a lo......

Underdosing naloxone

Globally, an estimated 69,000 people die each year from opioid overdose. The drug naloxone can quickly block opioid receptors in the brain a......

UNGASS 2016: What prospect for change?

The NGOs closest to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem in April aren't expecting dramati......

Future drugs

All around the world, things are rapidly changing. There are signs the War on Drugs may be running out of steam, new technologies promise ne......

A court that heals

Offenders opting to come under New Zealand’s first Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court choose a stretch of healing, rather than jail time......

Drug Use in NZ

The basic facts about what drugs are available and regularly used in New Zealand....

International Overdose Awareness Day: Guest Blog

Every week a New Zealander dies of an overdose. Sadly, many of these deaths are entirely preventable, but the stigma surrounding injecting d......

Drug Policy Briefing to the Incoming Parliament 2014

The Briefing to the Incoming Parliament (BIP), a policy brief prepared by the Drug Foundation for all parliamentarians, was publicly release......

A Slug of the Drug

What's to be done about caffeine and alcohol mixed beverages, the popular poly-drug choice of the recently post-pubescent?...

Helen Clark outlines solid case for law reform

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark told people working in the addictions treatment sector we need a fresh approach to drug policy. This inclu......