Final pill testing trial at Canberra leg of Groovin the Moo reveals seven pills with deadly substance

Seven pills tested at the Canberra leg of the music festival contained a deadly substance linked to mass overdoses.

Seven pills with deadly substances were found during the second pill testing trial at Groovin The Moo. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

A lethal substance linked to mass overdoses was found in seven pills at the Canberra leg of the Groovin The Moo music festival

Pill testers received drugs from 234 festivalgoers on Sunday, with 171 samples analysed in last weekend’s second pill testing trial, according to the Canberra Times.

Seven of the substances tested contained n-ethylpentylone, a highly lethal substance attributed to mass overdoses overseas. It can cause “circulation problems, lethal heart palpitations and hallucinations”, according to Dr David Caldicott from Pill Testing Australia (PTA).

All seven people who were found to have the dangerous substance threw their tainted drugs in the “amnesty bin” provided at the festival.

The most common substance found was MDMA. Also detected was ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The number of substances tested this year has doubled since last year when 85 pills were tested at the first rollout of the trial.

It’s the last time the PTA trial will be provided free to festivalgoers.

PTA is now seeking funding from the ACT Government, saying the testing program has benefited the community.

Dr Caldicott said the data on whether pill testing was effective at reducing drug overdoses at music festivals would be more than adequate after two trials.

A spate of five deaths in five months at music festivals in NSW led to heated debate and the announcement of a coronial inquest, set to begin in July this year.

A lethal substance was found in seven pills during the second pill testing trial at Groovin The Moo. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

“You could argue quite cogently the healthcare benefits of having a pill testing system, but there are other ways of funding it,” Dr Caldicott said.

“This is a health issue, and we should be approaching it as such.”

The demand for testing this year was “non-stop”, according to Gino Vumbaca from PTA.

“There were a lot more people, and we tested a lot more samples,” he said.

“A number of red flags came up, more than last year although we have tested more samples.”

Overdoses at Aussie music festivals are an ongoing issue. Last week, a man and woman were found dead in a tent at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival near Warwick in Queensland. Police are investigating their deaths as possible drug overdoses.

Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival organisers announced they would move outside of NSW to Queensland earlier this year after NSW Police lodged action in the Supreme Court in an attempt to block them from being able to operate in their Kippenduff venue. They said in a statement they’d been welcomed by the Southern Downs Regional Council and Queensland Police with open arms, according to The Music Network.