An entirely new illicit drug has been discovered by Australian chemists. Here's how they did it

By David Caldicott, Senior lecturer, Australian National University
Malcolm McLeod, Associate Professor, Australian National University

Imagine, if you will, a small plastic baggy containing a mixture of crystals and powder.

The person presenting it thinks “it might be ketamine?”, but admits the subjective effects are different to what they’re used to. How do we find out if it’s what they think it is? And what are the consequences if it isn’t?

This is a typical scenario for the people working at CanTEST – Australia’s first and only fixed-site, face-to-face drug checking service, located in Canberra.

And in this case, it…

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