I have become a spokesperson for the national campaign for safer, saner drug laws ‘Take Control’ because all the available evidence points to pill testing being a proven and genuine means of reducing harm and danger and saving young lives — not just talking about it. How can governments look parents in the eye and say they are doing everything they…

Speaking to the ABC, Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca called for a rethink on drug testing. “The continual reliance on law enforcement, extra policing, extra (sniffer) dogs, severe penalties, that all happens, but we see what happened at the music festival in New South Wales and festivals around the country,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. […]

Pill testing could help warn others about dangerous batches of pills at Australian music festivals and deter drug suppliers from selling “contaminated drugs,” according to Dr Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. […]

Caldicott is just one of numerous experts in fields from harm minimisation and drug reform to police and medicine who have said pill testing should be considered to reduce drug problems at music festivals. “There’s not really that many experts you can find anywhere in the world who thinks that this is a bad idea,” Caldicott said. […]

Reason Party leader and upper house MP Fiona Patten urged the government to look at the decades of evidence from overseas that showed pill testing reduced deaths and ambulance calls-outs. Dr Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, said families were suffering unnecessary pain and politicians weren’t taking responsibility for it. […]

The recent deaths have sparked a national debate around pill testing, with advocates renewing calls for the technology to be introduced in order to minimise risks. Since her son died, Ms Buccianti has been a fierce advocate of the measure, which she believes could have saved Daniel’s life. “My son would have never, ever wanted to come out of that…

The national campaign for drug law reform, ‘Take Control’, has pleaded with the NSW Premier to reconsider her stance. “As always, we must be respectful of the family and remember that every single life is precious,” Ted Noffs Foundation CEO Matt Noffs said. “We have doctors and drug treatment experts standing by to make live music and festivals safer for our…

Reason Party leader and upper house MP Fiona Patten urged the government to look at the decades of evidence from overseas that showed pill testing reduced deaths and ambulance calls-outs. It’s tragic and it’s immoral for politicians to look away and put their heads in the sand when young people are dying and they could stop it,” she said. […]

New South Wales Opposition Leader Michael Daley has said that the state Labor party would consider the possibility of testing recreational drugs at music festivals, after the death of 22-year-old Josh Tam following Lost Paradise this week. […]

Pill testing advocates reissued their push for a rethink following the Lost Paradise death, including the Take Control organisation, which was launched by drug and alcohol treatment provider the Ted Noffs Foundation. Spokesman Matt Noffs said the “just say no” strategy had failed and urged the Premier to listen to evidence about pill testing.  […]