Major festivals have expressed support for pill testing over the summer.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Meredith music festival, which takes place every December in Victoria with more than 12,000 festival-goers, said if drug checks were made legal in Victoria they would work to introduce safe and accessible services for guests.
"We assess the effectiveness of our programs by how well they help participants make more informed decisions about their own safety and the safety of others," a spokesperson said.
Australian Festival Association (AFA) managing director Mitch Wilson said the AFA encouraged the government to introduce drug screening.
"We know providing patrons direct access to medical professionals through these services empowers and educates young people about the risk of illicit drug use," they said.
The AFA will call on the Victorian Government to support and implement drug checking services as recommended by a state coroner.
Victorian coroner Judge John Cain recommended drug screening after an investigation into the 2022 death of a 26-year-old man from a class of MDMA pill called the 'Blue Punisher'.
In his judgement on September 6 Judge Cain said that a drug checking service would have at least provided an opportunity for the deceased to learn more about the pill and make better informed and safer decisions.
NSW-based electronic music festival Strawberry Fields has also expressed support for introducing pill testing.
"We support the introduction of pill testing (and drug testing more broadly) in Australia provided these activities are operated legally and safely by appropriately qualified professionals," a spokesperson said.
Australians support pill testing
Drug checking services have been introduced in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and are being introduced in Queensland.
More than half of the drugs tested at CanTEST in Canberra were not what the user expected, according to a review of the service.
Many binned their samples after finding out what was in their drugs and 32 per cent of people said they would definitely not use the drug when an additional or unexpected drug was found.
IN OTHER NEWS:
In the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 57 percent of Australians supported pill testing.
And a 2019 Australian Election Study survey found 63 percent of Australians supported pill testing.
Six people died during or just after attending music festivals in NSW between December 2017 and January 2019 a result of taking MDMA or ecstasy.
