When a dealer passed off one drug for a deadly replacement in Amsterdam last year, it was hard to avoid hearing about it.

Health authorities took the lead, warning tourists that white heroin had been sold as cocaine, Russell Brown writes in an article for the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

Are people getting enough warnings about ‘dodgy' drugs? Photo: File.

Posters and flyers were distributed, and large street signs erected, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of casualties.

This is just one example of a proactive effort to ensure drug consumers get accurate information about what they are taking.

Others are more low-key, such as the Check It initiative in Vienna, which offers pill testing at music events.

In Wales, the WEDINOS project tests drugs submitted by the public, posts results online and issues warnings as required. Recent hospitalisations for adverse reactions in Auckland show people are taking drugs - and not always safe ones.

More than 30 people were reported as arriving at A&E in Auckland hospitals after severe reactions to what was suspected to be NBOMe.

The question that arises is: are we doing enough to get accurate information into people's hands early enough?

At the second Speaker and Soup winter 2015 session, the focus is on where an early warning system and drug checks fit in with a harm reduction-focused drug policy.

Russell says there will be some expert views on why we need to do something and what issues need to be addressed so early warnings can get out here.

'While some may prefer to tut-tut about people taking unknown things, we'll keep our feet firmly planted on the cold, hard ground and discuss the ways good information can reduce very real harms,” he says.

People wanting to attend the discussion panel can do so on Friday, July 3, at 11am at the New Zealand Drug Foundation Office, Wakefield Street in Wellington.

It's free of charge and people need to RSVP via: admin@drugfoundation.org.nz