A ripple effect from an increase in drug checking

The Drug Foundation tested more than two-and-a-half thousand samples at almost 100 clinics in 2023 -- up 51-percent on the year before.

Nearly one in five weren't the drugs people were expecting.

Executive Director Sarah Helm says they've picked up everything from sugar through to industrial chemicals - which aren't safe for human consumption.

She says they can then tell the wider community those substances are circulating, preventing further harm.