Drug testers at music festivals are on alert this year as a new wave of substances – from cocaine to ketamine – makes its presence felt in New Zealand.  A huge increase in methamphetamine use grabbed headlines last year, but cocaine use has also increased, along with lower-profile ketamine, which is now showing up in hospital admissions.  As hundreds of thousands of people attend festivals throughout New Zealand this summer, Know Your Stuff will be at 20-30 festivals to help those taking substances fully understand what they are consuming.  “People will bring their drugs to our service and we will test them on our spectrometers and other scientific equipment that we have, to determine what they have,” general manager Casey Spearin said.  “At that point we sit them down and we give them the results of their test, and we have a harm reduction conversation.”  Spearin said Know Your Stuff and similar organisations had seen an increase in the number of people who used their services during the past few years.  “Across the board is that we are seeing a bit more drug use in general,” she said, “and that’s something that’s happened globally.  “Certainly, we’re seeing an increase in cocaine coming through and that seems to be due to an increase in supply, as well as the price dropping a little bit.    Know Your Stuff provides free drug checks at summer festivals, but also in cities nationwide throughout the year. Photo / Know Your Stuff NZ  “Increase in ketamine has been going on for a while, and then there’s been a lot of headlines recently about this increase in methamphetamine across 2024.”  This is a trend supported by data obtained by the Herald from Health New Zealand in an Official Information Act request.  Hospital admissions linked to ketamine have increased more than sevenfold from a low base between 2014-15 and 2023-24.    Hospital admissions related to ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine have increased since 2014.  Hospital admissions during the same period linked to cocaine and methamphetamine have also increased, while those linked to MDMA have slightly declined since 2020-21, after a dramatic rise.  The Health Ministry told the Herald it was conscious of changing trends in drug use and it was important New Zealand’s health system was prepared to respond to present and future trends.  “The ministry is currently developing a strategic action plan to prevent and reduce substance-related harm. This is expected to be released in early 2026,” a Health Ministry spokesperson said.    Know Your Stuff says it has seen an increase in drug consumption across the board. Photo / Know Your Stuff NZ  Drug laws ‘unsafe’  However, Spearin told the Herald she believes data on drug-related hospital admissions are poor in general and point to a wider issue with the system.  “There can be a lot of variation with how [hospitalisations] are recorded at the clinical stage, if someone actually does disclose what they’ve taken, if the practitioner decides to record it or not record it, that can cause a lot of long-term problems for people if they’re labelled as a drug seeker.  “It is harder to get medication in the future. We’ve heard of people that have been honest with their doctors about their drug use, and then they’re banned from getting life insurance for the next seven years.”  Spearin said allowing for greater anonymity in reporting drug use could encourage those who used them to be more open about it and start to access the help they needed.    Know Your Stuff says it talks to people about harm reduction after testing their drugs. Photo / Know Your Stuff NZ  Spearing praised the Government’s funding towards mental health services, noting more money was going to those services, especially in rural areas, than before.  However, she argued the bulk of government money was still going toward...