One thing in Daniel Andrews’ favour was his clear-eyed opposition to pill testing
Premier Jacinta Allan is insulting the intelligence of Victorians. At least her predecessor drew the line at this issue and made an argument rooted in fact and logic.
Rita Panahi
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You know things are bad in Victoria when you start pining for Daniel Andrews.
One thing the former premier had in his favour, and it may only be one thing, was his clear-eyed opposition to pill testing.
Sure, Andrews was happy to embrace the insanity of putting a drug-injecting facility in a residential area next to a primary school, but he drew the line at the mixed messages and incoherent policy position of testing illicit substances, and thereby encouraging further drug taking and giving the illusion of safety.
When pressure was exerted on Andrews to introduce pill testing after the Annastacia Palaszczuk government adopted the practice in Queensland early last year, he was unequivocal about why it was bad policy and would not be introduced in Victoria.
“The (Victorian) government is not introducing a pill-testing trial. Queensland can do that if they choose to, we aren’t,” Andrews said.
“I don’t think you can take these drugs at any level and be safe. Pill testing can often give people a sense that it is safe to take those drugs. The pharmacology, the evidence, is very, very clear.”
It’s hard to argue against any of that because it’s rooted in fact and logic.
However, Premier Jacinta Allan has no such reservations. This week she announced a backflip from Andrews’ position with a $4m trial followed by a permanent testing regimen.
From the coming summer, drug users will be able to test pills, powders, crystals and liquids at various music festivals and a location in Melbourne.
“I want to be really clear here, this doesn’t make drugs legal and it most certainly doesn’t make drugs safe,” Allan said.
“We’re doing this because all the evidence says it works. The evidence tells us it changes behaviour.”
In a video posted on the premier’s X account, she explained the decision further.
“I’ve been speaking to other parents about this too, one of them put it simply, young people are smart and they want information,” she said.
“If their kids get handed a pill at a festival they want a medical professional who can tell them exactly what it is and exactly what it does without telling them it’s safe … that’s how we change young people’s behaviour and even reduce drug use.”
It’s simply absurd to suggest that a “medical professional” giving the green light to a banned substance won’t be interpreted as that drug being safe.
That is precisely what is communicated if you provide a pill testing service.
And the question must be asked what happens when the advice is wrong; if the drug taker has a bad or catastrophic reaction to the illicit substance or if they mix the drug with other legal or illegal substances.
One could argue the state is then partly culpable for any injuries or deaths that occur from drugs that have been tested by a government run service.
The premier is of course entitled to her own position but she is not entitled to mislead Victorians.
As is often the case with politicians, it’s the shameless lying that is infuriating.
If you support a more permissive attitude to illicit drugs, if you want to decriminalise or provide pill testing and other measures to normalise drug use then go right ahead.
But please do not insult the intelligence of Victorians by claiming that such measures actually lead to a reduction in drug use, relying on flimsy activist data that is about as reliable as a mesh condom.
Labor’s mad spending is affecting just about every Victorian
At a time when various health sector unions should be apoplectic with rage, with crippling budget cuts putting further strain on hospitals, they are largely silent or raising only the mildest of objections.
State Labor is simultaneously slashing the budgets of hospitals while giving nurses a massive pay increase.
No one will begrudge nurses receiving a pay rise but the 28.4 per cent deal over four years struck with the cash-strapped Allan government comes at a time when hospitals are weighing up the merits of closing wards or cancelling elective surgery on weekends to make ends meet. Labor’s mad spending, massive budget blowouts on major projects and poor governance is having an impact on just about every Victorian.
Hospital waiting lists are set to balloon further with health services forced to cut services to meet budget demands.
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