Many people across Australia aren't exactly enjoying lockdown or coronavirus restrictions. We can't see our friends and family, can't travel interstate, can't do a lot of things.
But experts reckon the current state of things is beneficial for one reason: keeping potentially deadly drugs out of the country.
There are fears that substances being brewed in Europe will flood the Australian market when lockdown eventually ends and it could wreak havoc on Aussies.
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News Corp reports drug manufacturers in the Netherlands have been creating MDMA that is between two to five times stronger than normal. Because Australians haven't been used to doses this high, some drug takers could accidentally overdose on a single pill or capsule.
Drug testing being done in Amsterdam shows some of the product being concocted in labs are coming back as 97 per cent pure. That would obviously downgrade as it would be cut and refined by the time it came to Australia, but that is still very high.
Another concern is some people's tolerance for MDMA might have dropped during lockdown because they haven't had many chances or places to take the drug. Taking MDMA that is suddenly much higher in potency could cause people to overdose and die.
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UK drug charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation's Steve Rolles says drug takers need to be very cautious of what they're taking when lockdown ends.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there was a spike in deaths in Australia," Mr Rolles warned. "Because of the COVID lockdown and the closure of nightclubs there has been a stockpile of MDMA.
"People have carried on making the drugs in the Netherlands. There is potentially going to be a fall in price."
Mr Rolles has ramped up the calls for pill testing to be introduced across the country to help drug takers understand what they're taking.
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A user might be used to taking more than one pill or capsule when partying, however they won't be used to doses that are five times higher than normal.
Tom Bart, a senior prevention worker at Jellinek, Amsterdam's drug testing organisation has also told News Corp the MDMA being found at raves across the country are concerning.
"80mg per ecstasy pill is a dose for a normal person but the doses in pills nowadays are 174mg per pill," he said. "You can't take two pills, or pills every couple of hours, now people are having sometimes a quarter or a third instead of halves."
If you're going to take an illegal substance, be careful what you are doing because you never truly know what you're taking unless you get it tested.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: News, Drugs, Australia