Canberra's pill testing site will also offer overdose reversal drug Naloxone

The static pill testing site opened in Canberra's city centre on July 20 and Directions Health Services chief executive Bronwyn Hendry "couldn't be happier" with the first week of the six-month pilot program.

"We're really pleased with the first two days of service, we had good numbers come through on both days," she said.

Up to 21 drugs were tested over the two days and 11 were discarded "for different reasons" at the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service where they underwent a chemical analysis to determine if a harmful substance was dominant in the drug.

Another service the Australia-first facility will be offering is Naloxone, a drug that people can take to reverse opioid overdose.

"It's a fantastic first aid measure that really would be great if all of us had access to it and if we come across someone who we think has overdosed, either a friend or just someone you actually do come across, you can administer that intranasally," Ms Hendry said.

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"If it turns out it's not an opioid overdose, then it won't cause any harm or have any effect on them whatsoever, so we're really pleased that people were open to taking Naloxone home with them."

Australian National University associate professor Anna Olsen will be evaluating the effectiveness of this service after the trial and said Canberra has long been a leader when it comes to the accessibility of Naloxone.

"Canberra was the first jurisdiction to give [Naloxone] a whirl in 2012 ... the national program really builds off the work that ACT did," she said.

The nasal spray is available over the counter at local chemists and pharmacies and concession card holders are able to buy it at a discount.

Alternatively, the pill testing site, which operates on Thursdays from 10am to 1pm or Fridays from 6pm to 9pm, will be giving Naloxone out for free.

"What Naloxone does is it attaches to your opioid receptors and stops fluid receptors taking up so much of the opioids, meaning that your respiratory system can start breathing again," associate professor Olsen said.

Professor Olsen said from reports of service staff that the new pill testing service was busy and it is operating well.

"Consumers are telling [staff] they're happy the services are open and we've even had someone come back to us twice, so repeat customers already," she said.

"For something that's novel for the Australian context it was, from what we can see from the data, it was a really successful first week."

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