FOLLOWING its success in Europe, pill testing services will be offered at an ACT music festival, the Spilt Milk 25 Nov event, and may become the norm at such events, in the hope of minimising harm from drug-taking for younger Australians, the Federal Government has said.
Advocates for pill testing have long been calling for the practice to be introduced in Australia following success in Europe where there are already best-practice guidelines for such tests, according to Harm Reduction Australia's Dr David Caldicott.
ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris signalled her support for the scheme at a press conference in Canberra last Friday saying, "This is a really good measure to make sure that young people stay safe".
Fitzharris said the government had to find the right balance between letting young people know it's illegal to take drugs while being realistic about the use of them.
"We've seen deaths at festivals, five in 2015 alone, so if that helps to keep people safe, it's worth doing," Fitzharris said.
She cited evidence from New Zealand which showed that 63% of people who have their pills tested, and were told the substance wasn't what they thought, decided not to take them.
One parent who lost a son to a "bad acid" trip at Victoria's 2012 Rainbow Serpent music festival has spoken up.
"The bottom line is people will take drugs, irrespective of the law," she said at a campaigning event last year.
"If pill testing was implemented, people might not take their drugs because no one wants to come out of a festival or nightclub in a body bag if they think their drugs might kill them."
The testing facility at the Spilt Milk music festival will be located securely adjacent to other health and emergency services and data from the event will inform future decisions around the practice.
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