Image via Safework Laboratories//

Marking the first time any pill testing service has discovered a brand-new drug, anywhere in the world…

A mystery ketamine derivative has been discovered by pill testers in Canberra, marking the first time any Australian drug-checking service has discovered a brand-new drug. Dubbed by the tester as ‘CanKet’ given its discovery origin, the substance is said to be related to its Ketamine cousin, but causes entirely different side effects.  

When speaking of the discovery to The Guardian Malcolm McCleod of CanTEST — the service that discovered the substance — said “it was clear this wasn’t ketamine, but rather a ketamine-like substance.” He went on to elaborate on the effects of the drug, saying that given the newness of its discovery, very little is known about what exactly CanKet can elicit from users. 

@everyone.laugh.or.sing #everykissbeginswithketamine ♬ every kiss begins with… – Tik Toker

“It’s so new we just don’t have information we can provide to people,” McCleod said, “nothing is known about the clinical effects on the consumer, and being something new, we urge caution. You can make quite small changes to a drug and see quite dramatic changes to its effects.” McCleod then confirmed that the new drug has been sent to both the UN Office of Drug Control and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs, with the intention of discovering whether CanKet is circulating overseas. 

While details of the substance remain scarce, a spokesperson from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission told The Guardian that effects of CanKet will be felt especially by those users who presumed they were taking regular ketamine. The spokesperson hypothesised that the drug arrived on Aussie shores after having been cooked up “in a jurisdiction where the laws around the production of chemicals are not prohibited yet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ny4z_nkSU

CanTEST is the same service that discovered earlier this year that 40% of ‘cocaine’ in Australia actually contained no trace of the drug at all. The highest cocaine purity that the government-backed study found accounted for only 27%, while one sample of ketamine contained only sugar.