Pills putting too many lives at risk: The arguments for and against pill testing

Amid a polarising debate about whether pill testing should be introduced in Queensland, those for and against have agreed on one thing – the lives of our young ones need to be protected. Two experts make their arguments for and against.

AMID a polarising debate about whether pill testing should be introduced in Queensland, those for and against have agreed on one thing – the lives of our young ones need to be protected.

The emotive argument was reignited this week following the tragic deaths of Queenslanders Ebony Greening and Dassarn Tarbutt at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce music festival in the state’s south.

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While a toxicology report is still being prepared to determine exactly how the pair died, their deaths join a spate of fatalities in recent months at popular music festivals across the country.

Australia’s first-ever pill-testing trial was held at popular music festival Groovin the Moo in Canberra last year.

The State Government is considering the findings from the trial and is now looking to the country’s second trial in Canberra this weekend, where Pill Testing Australia will set up at the same event.

Health Minister Steven Miles has maintained the Government would monitor the work being undertaken in the ACT before determining what to do.

However, there is growing pressure for a decision to be made soon, with some advocates calling for a trial to be brought to the Sunshine State by this summer. Whether it be pill testing or another harm-reduction strategy, a decision will need to be made to protect the state’s youth.

ARGUMENT FOR PILL TESTING: REBECCA LANG

THERE will always be people who seek to alter their psychoactive state in the pursuit of pleasure.

Whether it’s having a few beers at the footy, cocktails with friends, or illicit substance use at festivals, all drug use comes with risks.

Sometimes these are general risks related to intoxication, sometimes the risks are particular to the substance being consumed (an overdose), and sometimes the risks are related to the context in which the substance is consumed (eg dehydration caused by dancing in 35C heat for hours).

Reducing the likelihood of these risks becoming fatal is the aim of harm-reduction services. These services provide information and equipment to support the health of those who have heard our prevention messages, but still make the decision to use drugs.

One of the major risks associated with illicit drugs is that there’s no label to list what’s in it.

This is where pill-testing or drug-checking services can provide information and reduce the risk of harm to the drug user.

Often it is the first time a person has had a conversation with a health professional about their drug use, and the evidence from Europe suggests they are keen to learn anything that might help them look after themselves and their friends.

The potential to understand the composition of the purchased substance is the lure that brings drug users to the service. The test result provides a chance for qualified harm-reduction practitioners to offer advice on risks, and how they might be reduced or avoided.

The aim is not to convince users not to consume the substance, but to engage with them with a view to providing useful information.

I support pill testing because I care about the health and wellbeing of the drug-using community as much as I care about the health and wellbeing of the rest of the community.

Rebecca Lang is CEO of The Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies

ARGUMENT AGAINST: IAN LEAVERS

MY HEART goes out to the family and friends of two young people who tragically died earlier this week at a music festival.

As a currently serving police officer, I have lost count of the number of times I have had to personally visit families and explain to parents, wives and husbands that their loved ones will never be coming home.

I am also a proud parent and father to my teenage son who will soon himself be attending these music festivals with his friends.

For this reason I would support any logical strategy that would reduce harm for he and his mates.

At Christmas last year and in the four months since, I have been consulted on my views concerning the trialling of so called “pill testing” at music festivals and I can say that pill testing and any other passive condoning of this type of illegal activity will only lead to more deaths.

Any state-supported pill testing is simply tacit approval of illegal drug use.

Illegal drugs are by definition, impure, and often are inconsistently made, even in the same batch, so pill testing would offer an illegal drug user a false sense of security that may even lead to their own death. At a time when we are tightening controls on access to drugs such as we saw with the ban on codeine this time last year, to then at the same time start testing illegal drugs at festivals just doesn’t make sense.

What people and many parents forget is that these drugs are not just one person taking one pill at a festival, the illegal drug trade is built on human misery. Entire illegal operations often involve serious crimes like armed robbery, grievous bodily harm and murder.

Legitimising pill testing will see more drug taking occur. If pills are tested people will think it is OK to take drugs when clearly it’s not. No quantity of these drugs is safe to consume.

Ian Leavers is president of the Queensland Police Union