Canberra’s public drug-checking service, CanTEST, has detected a potent veterinary sedative in an unregulated substance for the first time, highlighting ongoing risks within the illicit drug market.
According to reports published by ABC News Australia, a member of the public brought a green rectangular pill resembling a Xanax tablet to the CanTEST facility. The user believed the item was either a benzodiazepine or MDMA, but testing revealed it actually contained medetomidine—an animal sedative.
Stephanie Stephens, acting chief executive of Directions Health Services, told ABC Radio Canberra that medetomidine carries severe risks regarding heavy sedation and overdose, particularly when combined with alcohol or other substances. Stephens also noted that the standard opioid overdose antidote, naloxone, cannot reverse medetomidine's effects.
Health authorities emphasized that medetomidine has previously appeared in counterfeit benzodiazepine tablets in Victoria, as well as across unregulated markets in North America and Europe. Officials noted that public drug-checking facilities provide vital early warnings, allowing health workers to identify dangerous substances circulating in the community without needing to wait for post-overdose toxicology reports.
