Pill testing debate: Expert warns pure drugs just as deadly as Premier rejects testing pilot
An expert has warned pure party drugs are every bit as deadly as those cut with filler after Premier Chris Minns rejected a push for summer pill testing pilot to be set up.
NSW
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Drug experts warn pure party drugs are just as dangerous as those that have been cut with fillers, as a coalition of health experts heaps pressure on Premier Chris Minns to set up pill testing facilities in time for a scorching summer.
Director of UNSW’s Drug Policy Modelling Program, Professor Alison Ritter said just because popular party drugs such as MDMA might not be cut with other substances does not mean the drug is safe.
“With MDMA there are issues with overheating and staying hydrated but not over hydrated,” she said.
This comes as the Premier on Monday rejected calls to set up a pill testing pilot in time for the summer festival period. Mr Minns said he would not be making a decision on pill testing until after his planned drug summit which is not likely to occur till the end of the government’s first term.
“Ensuring that you’ve got police who are able to do their job and keep people safe because the truth is there is no safe quantity to take these illegal substances,” he said.
“Compromised drugs and the consumption of that is not necessarily the reason leading to deaths at music festivals – it might be overuse or overconsumption of that substance rather than there being a dangerous element added to the drug.”
Unharm chief executive Will Tregoning is among a contingent of 20 drug safety advocates, including the Royal College of GPs petitioning the government to urgently establish pill testing sites.
Mr Tregoning said the Premier’s comments did not reflect the wider research done on pill testing.
“Chris Minns is essentially creating a problem that is not a problem at all,” he said.
“NSW police already have protocols on how they react with supervised injecting sites, similarly this would be the same agreement.”
National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs director, Dr Nadine Ezard said there would be more drug overdoses this summer if immediate action wasn’t taken, adding there was a serious concern of an influx of opioids mixed in the drug supply this holiday period.
“Some (drugs) include opioids … if we don’t have any way of testing, informing or warning people we will see overdoses this summer,” she said.
Directions Health Services COO, Stephanie Stephens manages pill testing sites in the ACT, where the practice has been implemented.
Ms Stephens says initial findings from the site, which has been operating for 12 months, shows over half the drugs tested were found to contain substances not expected by the user. Additionally one in ten samples tested resulted in the drug being discarded by the user at the service.
“We often found ketamine was not ketamine but substituted for a derivative … MDMA is often mixed with pentylone which has a known risk of stimulant overdose,” she said.
“In instances where we discovered high strength (pure) drugs the user would often alter their behaviour by taking less.”
NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman said the Premier was wasting his time with a drug summit and needed to come clean about his plans for future drug testing.
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