Pills to be tested at Queensland music festivals

Pill-testing services will be made available in Brisbane’s inner city and at Queensland music festivals in a controversial move to reduce the risk of people taking potentially lethal illicit drugs.

David Caldicott from Pill Testing Australia oversaw trials in Canberra and the ACT. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Pill-testing services will be made available in Brisbane’s inner city and at music festivals throughout Queensland in a controversial move to reduce the risk of people taking potentially lethal illicit drugs.

Just days after introducing some of the most relaxed drug possession laws in Australia, the Palaszczuk government has made Queensland the first state to approve fixed and mobile sites to chemically test pills and other illegal drugs for users.

Victoria and NSW in recent months have refused calls to set up drug-test services after a number of deaths and hospitalisations linked to pill consumption.

The Australian Capital Territory is the only jurisdiction that has a government-backed program, and allows users to have pills and other illicit drugs tested.

Under Queensland’s plan, a permanent testing service will be provided in Brisbane, believed to be at the existing needle exchange in the city, with mobile testing available at music and dance festivals.

Introduction of the services comes after legislation was introduced into state parliament on Tuesday that swept aside the state’s traditional tough stance on possession of hard drugs.

Under the new laws, users will be given three chances if caught carrying up to a gram of drugs including heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and ice before facing the possibility of a criminal charge, and offered drug diversionary and educational programs.

The possession law changes, supported by the police service and drug and health experts, brought Queensland into line with other states.

But the new laws will be among the most relaxed, with Victoria offering fewer chances before a conviction on possession and NSW’s definition of a small quantity being a quarter of that under the Queensland laws.

In a statement to The Weekend Australian, the Palaszczuk government said pill-testing services would be modelled on the Canberra trials. “Pill-testing services, at either fixed or mobile sites, will chemically test illicit drugs to check for the presence of potentially dangerous substances and chemical compounds, with the aim of changing behaviour of users and reducing the risk of harm from drug use,’’ it said.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said “pill testing is all about harm minimisation”.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath. Picture: Annette Dew

“We don’t want people ending up in our emergency departments or, worse, losing their life,’’ she said. “It is important to note pill-testing services do not promote that drugs are safe.”

The ACT conducted two pill-testing trials at the Groovin the Moo festivals in Canberra in 2018 and 2019, and launched Australia’s first fixed testing site last year.

A review of the 2019 trial found that of 170 substances tested, seven contained potentially deadly MDMA substitute n-ethylpentylone.

All patrons with drugs containing the substance discarded them in the amnesty bin.

Emergency medicine consultant David Caldicott, who oversaw the clinical team at both Canberra trials and the ACT’s fixed site, said there was no evidence pill testing increased drug use.

“It’s quite the opposite. While it doesn’t stop everybody using drugs it stops the most dangerous ways of using drugs. We see it very much as a health service.”

Dr Caldicott said his team had checked hundreds of pills in the ACT, and estimated “20 to 30 per cent” of people binned substances on finding out what was in them.

In 2019, a NSW coroner recommended pill testing after investigating drug-related deaths of six people, aged 18 to 23, at music festivals. In 2021, Victorian coroner Paresa Spanos also called for public testing for illicit drugs after an investigation into the deaths of five young men in Melbourne.