A police officer who conducted 19 strip searches at a 2018 music festival has admitted to an inquiry that all of them may have been illegal. The commission heard only one of the searches conducted by the officer found any drugs: a single diazepam tablet, a drug used to treat anxiety and depression, prompting the commissioner, Michael Adams QC, to…

In a statement issued on 15 October, NSW and ACT Moderator Rev. Simon Hansford said that pill testing gave greater opportunities for treatment. “Pill testing can be the first opportunity someone has to talk to a health professional about drug use and its inherent risks,” Rev. Hansford said. This trial, Rev. […]

Jennie Ross-King, who said she supported all of Ms Grahame’s recommendations, said there was a “level of contempt” for the inquiry: “If they [those who leaked the document] had any interest whatsoever in the process, then I would assume they would’ve been following the evidence and this wouldn’t have come as a surprise.” […]

The Herald still believes that the approach to fighting deaths at festivals based solely on education campaigns and tougher policing is not working. It has been in place for decades but the deaths continue. Ms Berejiklian is wary of trying something new. But the case for a highly regulated limited trial of pill-testing and changes to police tactics is building.…

A report in The Daily Telegraph detailed the draft recommendations from a coronial inquest into a spate of drug-related deaths at NSW music festivals in the summer of 2017 and 2018. In the leaked documents, NSW Coroner Harriet Grahame recommended pill testing be introduced, and that police body searches and sniffer dogs be scrapped. […]

The ACT Greens are calling for a static pill testing trial to be established in the ACT following the release of a draft recommendation by the NSW coroner stating that pill testing reduces harm from drug use.Greens spokesperson for Drug Law Reform Shane Rattenbury says the NSW coroner is an independent judicial body that has today, after exploring the evidence in…

ACT Chief Minister Barr on Monday replied to the letter from federal Health Minister Hunt, saying the government did not dispute that cannabis could have adverse health effects, but that harm minimisation principles had informed the reform. “It is the government’s view however that the outright prohibition of cannabis is of limited, and often negative, effect when seeking to reduce…

Greens MP and Drug Law Reform and Harm Reduction spokesperson Cate Faehrmann says she is launching a new campaign for drug law reform in NSW. The campaign has four demands: allowing pill testing services at mobile and fixed sites; regulating and taxing cannabis; decriminalising the personal use/possession of all drugs, and; replacing the current Roadside Drug Testing Scheme to testing…

“Pill Testing Australia, that conducted the trial, has released data in relation to the April 2019 festival. However, the independent evaluation by the Australian National University is not due until the end of this year. “The Queensland Government is awaiting the outcomes of this independent evaluation to inform any further policy decisions in relation to pill testing.” […]

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor in a Question on Notice asked Health Minister Dr Steven Miles what current investigations the government was undertaking into pill testing and had it considered trialling the systems at music festivals and the end of Year 12 celebrations in Surfers Paradise. The rookie Coast MP has targeted Labor on drug testing after speaking with teens at…