The ad was released alongside Pill Testing Australia’s (PTA) second report from Groovin The Moo in Canberra on April 28. The advocacy group explained it will no longer be footing the hefty bill to provide the services but stated how it believed the machine had potentially saved lives. PTA tested 170 substances for 234 revellers, finding seven of the samples…

“Pill testing services offer a unique and efficacious opportunity to engage with young people and effect positive behavioural change to reduce the risk of drug-related harm,” said Dr David Caldicott, an Emergency Medicine Consultant who oversaw the clinical team at both pill testing pilots in Canberra. “This cohort is unlikely to have ever had contact with health services in relation to their…

As the Australian Capital Territory government again refuses to fund pill testing at music festivals, a new ad is shedding light on exactly what kids go through and why so many of them are diving in blind. […]

Understanding self-regulating drug use as an everyday experience for many people allows us to envision an end to the drug war that doesn’t require an end to drug use. Instead, with a deeper understanding of self-regulation, we can move to end the criminalization of drug use—whether the use is “problematic” or not—and focus on expanding care and support for everyone who…

Drug users should not be treated as the enemies of festivals, they account for a large proportion of festival-goers and bring in vast amounts of money for organisers. If a festival attracts a certain crowd and pattern of behaviour due to its choice of music, it should go out of its way to protect this group. […]

Berejiklian’s appearance on the panel comes a day after Pill Testing Australia released its report on the April Groovin The Moo trial, which identified seven samples containing the potentially deadly substance n-ethyl pentylone before they could be consumed. Among its other findings: in addition to the professional analysis offered to everyone who had their pill tested, nearly 20% of people…

I’d like to think we’ve moved past the point where abstinence is a practical end goal for everyone. Pill Testing Australia says it succinctly in the report: “No matter how strong our desire for people not to use drugs or our efforts at education and prevention, people will continue to use drugs.” […]

The ACT government is being urged to introduce Australia’s first ever fixed-site community drug testing facility after the discovery of a number of potentially fatal substances during a pill-testing trial held in Canberra. Pill Testing Australia held its second trial at the Groovin’ the Moo festival in Canberra in April and found seven pills containing the highly toxic chemical N-Ethylpentylone, a drug…

In their official report, PTA have further outlined the trial’s effects. Noticeably, PTA announced an “unintended benefit”: punters who had their pills tested and found unexpected substances would spread word to friends with pills (assumedly from the same batch), who would return with those friends to also get tested. According to the report, this happened “on several occasions […]

“Prohibition is a policy of rejection and of saying we don’t care about drug users. Pill testing shows we take their health seriously. We must acknowledge the current approach is resulting in unintended consequences and instead choose policies that have worked elsewhere. It’s time to get over the stigma and just test the pills.” […]