HOW DOES PILL TESTING HELP?
How would pill testing have helped? From the inquest into five fatal drug overdoses in NSW: "Another young man died after taking between six and nine pills in one day... One young person mixed alcohol and MDMA." Plus: "[Police commisioner Graham Ashton] said most drug overdoses at music concerts were the results of... taking multiple pills."
How would pill testing have helped? From the inquest into five fatal drug overdoses at NSW music festivals:
Another young man died after taking between six and nine pills in one day... One young person mixed alcohol and MDMA.
What difference would testing pills have made - other than to give the false and lethal message that they are "safe"?
The police commissioners of Australia’s two biggest states have rejected pill testing, with Mick Fuller from NSW saying its advocates “want to legalise drugs by stealth’’ and Victoria’s Graham Ashton saying it would be unlikely to save lives...
Mr Fuller said: “There is ample evidence that drugs are not safe. Even those with absolute purity. All drugs can kill. This is the message we need out there.”
Mr Ashton said most drug overdoses at music concerts were the results of “poly’’ use: one person taking multiple pills. “Pill testing does not stop this,’’ he said...
Mr Ashton said illicit drugs had a negative affect on all aspects of a person’s life and there was no guarantee a pill-testing regime would identify toxic drugs.
“Identical illicit drugs can affect people differently depending on purity, tolerance levels and their existing medical conditions,’’ Mr Ashton said.
“Too often a death from overdose leads to an automatic call for pill testing as a solution when in (Victoria Police’s) view it is not. There is no such thing as safe illicit drug use. That is why they are illicit...
"What message does it give our children when we make an exception at music concert gates?’’ he added.
Where is the evidence that pill testing would save lives, not cost them?