More than 20 heads of department at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital have urged the Premier to scrap strip-searching and adopt a pill-testing trial amid an anecdotal rise in the number of panic ingestions at music festivals. The unprecedented appeal from senior staff at the frontline hospital for drug and alcohol emergency admissions follows a recent incident in which a teenage…

From our experience, we believe pill testing at festivals has the added advantage of bringing a young person face-to-face with a trained counsellor before they ingest the drug. Evidence to the coroner demonstrated that none of the young people had ever spoken with an expert about the risks of MDMA or the potential danger of mixing drugs and alcohol. […]

A list that Harm Reduction Australia & Pill Testing Australia put together of just some of the national peak bodies that are publicly supporting the introduction of pill testing in Australia Australian-Peak-Bodies-Supporting-Pill-TestingDownload […]

Mr Palmer urged Mr Fuller to be ready to debate the issue, welcoming the opportunity to argue it, along with aspects of harm minimisation with the commissioner or the premier either publicly or privately. Mr Fuller declined to participate. […]

“With the mounting evidence from experts in health and justice, we should be moving closer towards decriminalising drug use and personal possession,” NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann told Sydney Criminal Lawyers. “Unfortunately, we have a conservative premier and government that refuses to implement policy based on evidence,” she explained. “Instead, they’re intent on pursuing their failed war on drugs and…

The evidence supporting pill testing has also been thoroughly reviewed by leading academics such as Professor Alison Ritter from the University of NSW and most recently by Magistrate Harriet Grahame, NSW Deputy Coroner, who has said: “I am in no doubt whatsoever that there is sufficient evidence to support a drug-checking trial in this state [both on-site and fixed]. […]

Pill testing has been trialled in Europe successfully for many years. In particular the Drug Information and Monitoring System operation in the Netherlands has proven itself to be a system that can assist with not only harm minimisation through drug testing, but also by collecting valuable data that can better inform festival planning and more targeted education. […]

What is so extraordinary about where we are in Tasmania and Australia is the support from the community for pill testing, amazing support. In Tasmania, as well as the Tasmanian branches of each of these bodies, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners, the Australian College of Emergency Medicine, Rural Doctors Association, Australian Medical…

“Harm reduction or a health focused approach to drug law reform is not a single party issue; it’s public health. So it’s fantastic that two of the minor parties have joined together for this,” Stephanie Tzanetis, DanceWize Program Coordinator, told Neos Kosmos. Pill testing continues to be a controversial topic, but as a public health issue, Ms Tzanetis it shouldn’t…

Premier Daniel Andrews has again rejected the proposal to test drugs at music festivals, reiterating that his government’s policy will not change and supports the stance of the Victoria Police. ‘There’s nothing wrong with a debate about these things, that’s fine, but we’ve been very clear … even so-called “pure” versions of these drugs can kill you. […]