Advocates warned people would die. Now we know someone has

When the former Labor government announced a trial of two fixed pill-testing sites in Queensland in 2024, it included an important provision: an independent evaluation after 12 months.

The sites in Bowen Hills and Burleigh Heads opened last year and tested a range of substances – not just recreational drugs such as methamphetamines, cocaine and MDMA, but also commonly prescribed medications, such as Ozempic, valium and ritalin.

When the LNP took office, funding for the sites was axed and they closed in April. But the report from the evaluation, conducted by the University of Queensland at a cost to taxpayers of $453,286, is still relevant.

Queensland’s pill-testing sites closed in April. A report evaluating their efficacy was completed last week, but the LNP won’t say if it will be made public.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The terms of the evaluation were to include an analysis of harm-reduction strategies and the development of a framework to monitor the detection of dangerous substances.

The latter point is important. Unlike other states and territories, Queensland doesn’t have an overdose monitoring system or a public drug alert network.

Several times, the pill-testing service filled this gap, including when it detected nitazenes, extremely potent synthetic opioids that are 40 times more powerful than fentanyl. These analogues are increasingly sold as pain meds, but can quickly become fatal.

When the sites closed, Cameron Francis, chief executive of The Loop Australia – the not-for-profit organisation that delivered the pill-testing service – said he feared lives would be lost as a result of the decision. It wasn’t an exaggerated warning.

In March, Queensland Health issued a clinical alert after protodesnitazene, a type of nitazene, was detected in a toxicology sample. The alert suggested the drug was mistakenly sold as desmetramadol, a medication used to treat chronic pain.

At the time, Queensland Health would not confirm whether the sample related to a fatal or non-fatal overdose, but a question on notice from Greens MP Michael Berkman revealed the person had died.

Queensland Health still won’t comment on the matter, saying it is before the coroner.

The Australian Federal Police recently warned of an increase in nitazenes detected in counterfeit pain relief medications in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, with experts saying more needs to be done to detect these substances before people use them.

Sounds like something a permanent pill-testing site and a framework to monitor the detection of dangerous drugs might be able to help with.

The UQ evaluation was completed last week but so far, the LNP has refused to commit to making it public.

A spokesperson for the Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the evaluation report would be considered in cabinet – which means Right to Information requests could be denied on the grounds of cabinet confidence.

“The government’s position is unchanged: drugs bought in the shadows at an event or through the mail should never be consumed in any circumstance,” the spokesperson said. “Testing samples sends the wrong message.”

Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls and Premier David Crisafulli have consistently opposed pill-testing services.Credit: Matt Dennien

On this, the LNP has been consistent, from their promise to scrap the trial in the lead-up to the state election, to the closure of the permanent pill-testing sites this year.

But just as consistent as the LNP’s rhetoric has been condemnation from experts, medical professionals, drug and alcohol specialists and advocates, who say the service reduces harm and saves lives. These same stakeholders are now calling on the LNP to release the evaluation.

“Let this evaluation see the light of day,” the Queensland chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Dr Cathryn Hester, said this week.

“We have evidence from other jurisdictions around the world that drug testing is a sensible harm-reduction measure. If the government was confident its decision to close the drug-testing sites was based on the best available evidence, this evaluation would be made public.”

What is really shown to reduce drug-related harm isn’t a “don’t do drugs, kids” stance, it’s education and access. It’s the fact that about half the people who used the pill-testing services had never spoken to a health professional about drugs before, and that one in three were referred on for additional support. One in seven even disposed of their drugs after the consultation.

Dr Nick Yim, the Queensland president of the Australian Medical Association, said while they don’t condone illicit drug use, “we think it’s really important to see this through a health lens”.

And that health lens is seeing the emergence of dangerous synthetics and a rise in people buying unregulated and non-prescribed medication illegitimately because of cost-of-living pressures and accessibility issues.

When people don’t have access to the right information, we know they might die. Someone already did.

I suspect this is all reflected in an evaluation that’s sitting on a minister’s desk, with no plans to make it public.

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