Pill test backer says method will not stop deaths

The man who launched Australia’s first pill testing trial at a music festival in Canberra has admitted his plan will not stop young people dying at festivals

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The man behind the push for pill testing has admitted his plan will not stop young people dying at festivals.

The testing capabilities are so limited that revellers would also be required to sign a death waiver which includes a warning that tests cannot accurately determine purity levels or give any indication of safety.

Harm Reduction Australia co-founder Gino Vumbaca, who launched the Canberra trial, said pill testing would not stop all drug users from dying at festivals but defended the concept saying it was “better than doing nothing”.

Harm Reduction Australia co-founder Gino Vumbaca.

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“Pill testing doesn’t mean there will not be a death again because we cannot stop all the death and problems with pill testing,” he said.

“There are five people who have died in the last few months so what is the alternative?

“The people coming forward (to test pills) are probably not the same people (who binge the drugs).

“The kids who came forward in Canberra were just looking to have a good time without going home in an ambulance.

“So we are not saying pill testing is the only solution but at least it is something.”

Drug users would also be told they would be breaking the law if they resented “trafficable quantities” of drugs to testers.

Part of the waiver festival goers would need to sign before taking part in pill testing. It absolves organisers of liability for death.

The restriction means only a tiny quantity of a drug user’s stash could ever be tested.

Mr Vumbaca said he had been given extensive legal advice to include the warnings on the waivers because of limitations of testing information.

“We got a lot of pro-bono legal advice from senior lawyers and to get insurances we had to put those caveats in the waiver.

“The wording can often seem like it is counter to what we are doing but we are not a laboratory and we have one piece of equipment.

“The test gives you an indication of purity but you can’t tell the exact amount. It then ranks those ingredients which gives you an idea of dosage but not an exact purity. But it is more information than they had before the test.”

A report into the Canberra pill testing trial — commissioned by Harm Reduction Australia — detailed the legal liability of testing pills.

22-year-old Josh Tam died at the Lost Paradise music festival in Sydney. Picture: Facebook

“(A) key condition identified by legal and insurance advisors was the need for a waiver form to be signed by all patrons,” the report said.

“The wording of the form was drafted with input from a medical clinician and from a pro-bono lawyer who assisted in this task.”

The wording adopted by the pill testers released everyone involved in testing from “any liability for personal injury or death suffered by me arising or connected in any way from the Services.”

The report also detailed the limitations on how much of the drug could be tested.

“A key condition that had been identified by police regarded possession of quantities of drugs that were legally ‘deemed’ to be of trafficable quantities,” the report said.

“Patrons were advised that if they produced such amounts of drugs they would be refused service.”

When asked whether the information gained from pill testing was still useful, Mr Vumbaca said it gave drug users more information to make a decision.

He also dismissed any suggestion that the perception of a pill being good could encourage higher dosages.

“If we set a bar so high then we wouldn’t be able to buy anything over the counter without taking into account medical history,” he said.

“We make sure not to say it is a good pill. We say what is in there and let them make the decision. We also say it could have an effect on cardiovascular health.”

Originally published as Pill test backer says method will not stop deaths