'Evidence backs pill testing trials': physicians tell Berejiklian

Australia's peak body for physicians have called on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to introduce pill testing trials at NSW festivals, telling her there is sufficient evidence to support the intervention.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians have written to Ms Berejiklian - and her state and territory counterparts - imploring her to reconsider her hardline stance against pill testing.

Central Coast teenager Alex Ross-King died after consuming an unknown substance at the FOMO Festival in Parramatta. Credit: Facebook

The intervention comes as the family of 19-year-old Alex Ross-King mourn the Central Coast teenager who died of a suspected fatal dose of an illicit drug at the FOMO Festival in Parramatta last weekend.

"In light of the six deaths at festivals in Australia since last September, we urge you to follow the lead of the ACT government in consulting with medical experts to establish pill testing trials in your state or territory,” the RACP’s open letter to premiers and chief ministers reads.

Ms Berejiklian welcomed an inquest into the deaths of young people at NSW music festivals.

But the Premier has refused to consider introducing pill testing at festivals amid mounting pressure, saying there was "no evidence provided to the government" that it saved lives, and testing would give drug users "a false sense of security".

“Pill testing doesn't deal with the issues of overdoses … it doesn’t deal with the horrible combination of drugs and alcohol, and drugs and heat," she said.

The RACP’s addiction and public health medicine experts said the available evidence justified pill testing trials in Australia.

"There is good evidence to show that people who submit their drugs for testing are quite likely to act on this information given to them as a result of having the testing done," President of the RACP’s Addiction Medicine chapter Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said.

"And there is a sufficient body of research to say there is no evidence that pill testing is causing harm or increases the risk of people taking drugs when they otherwise might not," he said.

Dr Lloyd-Jones acknowledged pill testing was "no panacea".

"Nevertheless, pill testing facilities at festivals can identify lethal ingredients," and offered an opportunity for medical professionals to offer festivalgoers face-to-face advice about the risks of taking drugs, he said.

He pointed to the ACT’s Groovin the Moo pill testing trial, which identified two deadly samples, and found more than half of the pills believed to be ecstasy did not contain pure MDMA.

Roughly 42 per cent said they would change their behaviour after having their pills tested, 12 per cent said they would take less, and 18 per cent said they wouldn’t use any illicit drugs at the festival.

The college warned against do-it-yourself pill testing kits, saying there was a risk that the unreliable kits may become “the default option” for festivalgoers unless official trials were established.

Josh Tam, 22, died after taking an 'unknown substance' at a music festival on the NSW Central Coast. Credit: Facebook

"These trials should be conducted in purpose-designed facilities by appropriately qualified technical specialists and should be accompanied by appropriate advice and information to allow festivalgoers to make informed choices," the college argued.

"Our advice would always be don’t take the drug," Dr Lloyd-Jones said. "But the reality is that they do in large numbers and the moral message to abstain from taking drugs is not getting through."

NSW Health data showed there were 115 emergency department presentations for MDMA poisoning in the week ending January 3.

The RACP joins a chorus of peak Australian clinicians and doctor’s organisations calling for pill testing trials, including the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as well as the former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer.

"An overemphasis on law enforcement is failing our communities and our young people, leading to unnecessary deaths," wrote the college.

Opposition health spokesperson Walt Secord said Labor would look at pill testing in the context of a drug summit.

"It is deeply disappointing that the Premier is refusing to at least listen to medical experts, doctors, parents and former leading figures in law enforcement. The community is simply asking the Premier to listen to experts and hear the evidence," Mr Secord said.

The RACP said pill testing needed to be just one facet of an evidence-based harm minimisation strategy.

The college called on governments to consult with addiction and public health physicians, clinical pharmacologists, toxicologists and other experts to develop carefully designed trials to minimise harm and inform drug policy.