Ecstasy pills made to look like a caricature of Jacinda Ardern have been found on the dark web.
The New Zealand Herald has discovered the drugs are being sold online and come in an orange colour with the Kiwi Prime Minister's name pressed into it.
The pill itself is also shaped and pressed in a way to look like Ms Ardern.
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The Herald said the pills are being advertised online for $30-40, however New Zealand Police aren't aware of them at the moment.
What's concerning is the pills haven't found their way onto the Know Your Stuff database, which is a repository of information related to different types of drugs.
The website states: "If your pill does not appear on this page, this is not a guarantee that it is safe."
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New Zealand recently became the first country in the world to permanently legalise drug checking at large-scale events like music festivals.
The program, which launched in December 2020, puts drug-checking services at events and to help people know what's in the substances they intend to consume.
The program was sparked after several incidents where festival-goers developed serious symptoms, including seizures, after taking pills.
Other countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands, have versions of the program in place, but none are completely government-supported and provided.
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Know Your Stuff was appointed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health to run the pilot.
The organisation said the passing of the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Bill is a significant step forward for the health and safety of consumers.
Manager director Wendy Allison said: "The Act will provide permanent legal standing for our service and will allow other organisations to provide drug checking services as well.
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"This will help ensure this vital service is accessible to more communities, and ultimately prevent more drug-related harm."
The law change provides certainty for the future of drug checking at festivals and events in New Zealand and facilitates the development of a regulatory framework to ensure that the public can access high quality, reliable, and effective drug checking services on an ongoing basis.
"There's plenty of work still to do," said Allison. "But this feels like quite an achievement.
"We have been working towards this for seven years and so many people have worked so hard to get us to this point. Today we're celebrating our success."
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Data from the pilot showed that 68 per cent of participants changed their behaviour as a result of accessing the drug checking service and 87 per cent said they better understood the harms of drug use after talking with the people performing it.
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