Pill testing: it’s your kids we’re talking about
Opponents of pill testing forget that the kids at real risk could be their sons, daughters, nieces or nephews, writes Mikey Cahill.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Greetings, feisty reader. In the occupation of journalist, the more disgruntled emails you get, the more you know you’re on the right track.
Following my pill-testing column last week that appealed for a mature, progressive approach to harm minimisation, two things happened.
A 19-year-old girl died at the FOMO music event in Sydney after taking an unidentified substance.
Sidenote: I attended the Melbourne leg the next day and “One Pill Can Kill” messages were displayed on the LED screens. Good.
There was no pill-testing available. Bad.
MORE: WHY PILL-TESTING COULD SAVE MORE LIVES
EXPERTS WARN OF DANGERS IN INFRA-RED PILL TESTING
The second thing? I received a bunch of letters veritably punched into keyboards.
I love hate mail, it’s invigorating.
In the spirit of fairness, let’s go over a few of them.
“If these dirty Maggot druggies die for a bad pill stiff s — t, it will get a few more scumbags off the street. Cheers, Bob.”
The polite ending is the clincher.
The thing is, Bobby ol’ son, the people attending those festivals are not “scumbags”, they’re your cousins, your nephews, your nieces, even your daughters and your sons.
Don’t you shake your head at me, Robert!
You probably think they’re “too intelligent” to be taking drugs with zero guarantees of quality and, therefore, safety.
Well, they’re not: being young and making dumb decisions go hand-in-hand.
Maureen of Frankston asked: “When are people going to wake up to how destructive they (party drugs) can be?”
About 35 years of age is my educated guess. Nancy Reagan’s well-meaning “Just say no” slogan wasn’t exactly effective in the 1980s. Kids aren’t listening.
I also received a plethora of affirmative and informative messages.
John Marlino, a distributor of a legal drug, pointed out we need “to consult with a laboratory to get a better understanding of how difficult it is to test a tablet”.
He sees variance in the ingredients of his product when it’s tested. Salient point.
Peter of Craigieburn had a radical suggestion: “Any consenting citizens should be allowed to inhale or ingest any party drug, provided they firstly visit the Royal Children’s Hospital and make a binding commitment to donate a healthy and working body organ to a needy recipient.” An idea with merit.
Hardware Corp’s Richie McNeill has been in the music festival game for 25 years and spoke to The Music this week. “The real way to fix it is a holistic approach, not a knee-jerk reaction. Regarding pill-testing, there are many factors … the weight of the person, if the person has heart history trouble, have they eaten, what have they drunk, are they on prescription drugs?”
McNeill believes “we need lengthy, robust discussion, not quick-fix policy”. Preach.
Hardware Corp are the promoters behind the upcoming, multi-day Babylon Festival in Carapooee West. To be frank, there will be copious substance consumption there and at the following music events all taking place in Victoria in the coming months: Rainbow Serpent, Laneway Festival, St Kilda Festival, Esoteric Festival, Pitch Music and Arts Festival, Golden Plains and Groovin’ The Moo in Bendigo.
The temperature will be cookin’ — punters will be getting cooked. But unless we practice harm-minimisation, more young people will die.
Let’s go back to that Groovin’ The Moo case where 85 drug samples were tested by Safety and Testing and Advisory Service at Festivals and Events.
Maureen from Franga rightly pointed out: “Eighty-five is a very small portion of the drugs that would have been flowing around the festival.”
There was very little fanfare about it and most attendees didn’t know the service was available. STA-SAFE found some “quite pure … high quality ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine”.
They also found two highly toxic chemicals including the “absolutely lethal N-Ethylpentylone (ephylone).” The pills were binned; lives were saved.
To get positive, long-lasting results we need brave, long-game ideas. We’re known as the Lucky Country; we can be the Smart Country too.
I again call on Premier Daniel Andrews to begin robust discussion and prioritise implementation of harm-minimisation measures for festival goers.
At the moment, Premier, your silence is deafening.
Mikey Cahill is a Herald Sun columnist
Human cost of pandemic goes much further than virus
Whether you are pro or anti-lockdown the grim, unintended consequences of the fixation on coronavirus are undeniable, as other diseases — including cancer and heart disease — go unchecked, and despair from joblessness, poverty and financial stress rises, writes Rita Panahi.
Premier must outline his plan so Melbourne can recover
As the community overwhelmingly complies with the Premier’s stage four restrictions, he must clearly outline his virus strategy so we can make plans to rebuild confidence and employment in our city, which right now is a ghost town, writes Jeff Kennett.