Pill testing cancelled at Groovin the Moo Canberra after insurance backflip

A last minute decision to pull a “lifesaving” service from Canberra’s Groovin The Moo festival has been met with fury.

Pill testing will no longer be offered at Canberra’s Groovin the Moo festival following a shock backflip just days before the event.

Pill testing is a harm reduction strategy that allows a person who is already in possession of a drug to test it at a booth inside the festival to find out what is actually in it.

People are able to use the service without fear of exposing themselves to police, with the aim being that it will prevent people from taking potentially harmful substances that they would have otherwise ingested.

Groovin the Moo was the first Australian festival to offer the service, successfully running in 2018 and 2019 with support from both the ACT government and the event organisers.

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Festival goers attend Groovin the Moo 2019 in Canberra. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

However, Pill Testing Australia and Harm Reduction Australia, the companies that offer the service, have revealed they will be unable to be present at the event this Sunday due to a last-minute insurance issue.

“I regretfully must inform you that the insurance company involved in insuring our service have today withdrawn their coverage and support for pill testing services, despite the detailed risk management work put together by our team and Groovin the Moo’s team,” Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca said.

“This situation occurred not long after the insurance company for the festival requested substantive additional requirements from Harm Reduction Australia before they could support pill testing services being included at the festival.”

Successful pill testing trials were run at Groovin the Moo in 2018 and 2019. Picture: iStock

Mr Vumbaca said the situation unravelled within a 48-hour period just days before the festival is due to start and despite all paperwork and plans being submitted in advance.

He noted that the organisers of Groovin the Moo festival have maintained strong support for pill testing and share in the “deep disappointment” that this service has been withdrawn.

More than 40 volunteers had been trained to deliver pill testing services in preparation for the festival.

The news has sparked fury online, with people pointing out this move will likely increase the risk to young people attending the event.

Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, Dr Marisa Paterson said the situation was a “Backwards step for drug harm minimisation in Australia”.

“Very disappointing and lives will be at risk as a result,” she wrote on Twitter.

MP Fiona Pattern branded the decision “outrageous”.

“This poor decision will increase the risk of harm for young people attending the festival,” she wrote.

A real backwards step for drug harm minimisation in Australia today with Canberra's @groovinthemoo festival not able to provide pill testing services after insurance companies backed out. Very disappointing and lives will be at risk as a result. #cbr#act

— Marisa Paterson MLA (@marisa_paterson) April 20, 2022

Just outrageous! I remember when Canberra insurance companies refused to cover brothels because of what they called 'moral risk'.
This poor decision will increase increase the risk of harm for young people attending the festival https://t.co/gm1XtjOKi9

— Fiona Patten MP (@FionaPattenMLC) April 20, 2022

Founding member of Harm Reduction Australia, Annie Madden, called on the government to step in and resolve the situation.

“This situation cannot be let stand w/o pushback. It is NOT OK that the private sector dictates when, where and now even IF critical frontline #harmredux services are provided. Govts need to step in here a find a #solution,” Ms Madden said.

This the equivalent of threatening to refuse to insure a climbing gym, if they offer to provide ropes and helmets. https://t.co/zl7i8HxoSk

— David Caldicott (@ACTINOSProject) April 20, 2022

The pill testing trial at Groovin the Moo in 2019 was hailed a success after several drugs were binned after being found to include potentially deadly substances.

Pill testers received drugs from 234 festivalgoers, with 171 samples analysed.

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 in 2019 has doubled from the previous year when 85 pills were tested at the first rollout of the trial.

The pill testing shed at Groovin The Moo 2019. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Mr Vumbaca took aim at insurance companies, accusing them of increasing the “risk of harm” to young people at these events by denying this crucial service.

“The message to insurance companies is simple. We are not permitted to provide this important (and potentially lifesaving) public health service for young people without insurance and yet despite all the risk mitigation and protocols in place for the service, not one insurance company seems prepared to insure the service,” he said in a statement.

“Your inability to see how pill testing reduces the risk of harm at festivals has substantially increased the risk of harm for young people attending the festival, and their families.”

Mr Vumbaca accused insurance companies of turning their back on the community, along with the health professionals and volunteers trying to make the community a “safer and more humane place” for everyone.

“I am not sure what the answer is for the future of pill testing and other services that engage with people who use drugs, but intervention at the government level seems to be the only real option to pursue,” he said.

Originally published as Pill testing cancelled at Groovin the Moo Canberra after insurance backflip