Do Vic Students Have Unsafe Substances?

Words by Niamh Vaughan (she/her)

O-Week brought more than just Yung Gravy to VUW. VUWSA partnered with the NZ Drug Foundation to bring back on-campus drug testing for the third O-Week in a row. 

VUW was the first university in Aotearoa to have drug testing available on-campus back in 2020. “We know that prohibition is a failure when it comes to harm reduction. [...] Evidence shows drug checking, [...] is a far more effective approach,” stated VUWSA Events Organiser Nathaniel Manning.

At O-Week 2022, 15% of tested substances were partially what was expected, and 8% proved to be not what was expected at all. VUWSA is currently unable to provide ^Salient with this year’s data. 

Salient asked Phil Glaser, Harm Reduction Manager at the NZ Drug Foundation, if there were any substances buyers should be careful about. “As always, we’ve [...] been seeing plenty of synthetic cathinones in MDMA. These are stronger and can have more unpleasant and unexpected effects than MDMA.”

More surprising is the rise in cocaine being tested. “We've seen more [cocaine] around recently, and it's being cut with a wider variety of fillers that can be more dangerous,” Glaser said.

“We’ve also seen some cocaine samples that have been cut with less filler, which has meant even people who’ve used cocaine before have been having some unpleasant experiences.”

VUWSA is aware that illegal substances are not the only thing students need to be cautious about. “Alcohol is always the single biggest contributor to harm that VUWSA sees in our O-Week safe rooms,” says Manning. 

VUWSA hopes to continue offering drug testing at future O-Weeks “as part of our wider efforts regarding student safety. [It] allows users to make informed decision[s] relating to their personal health and safety.”