Coroner calls for ‘urgent’ public drug testing following cluster of synthetic drug deaths

A Victorian coroner is calling for the state government to urgently implement public drug testing following the deaths of five young Melbourne men.

A combination of synthetic substances the five men ingested caused them to act bizarrely, with one sustaining “unsurvivable” brain damage while others suffered seizures and cardiac arrests after running into windows and walls across different parts of Melbourne between July 2016 and January 2017. Another fell from a 10th floor balcony.

Coroner Paresa Spanos.Credit: Eddie Jim

A 2020 inquest into the men’s deaths found they mistakenly consumed a cocktail of synthetic drugs – 25C-NBOMe and 4-Fluoroamphetamine – they believed were MDMA or magic mushrooms.

The five males, known as Anson, 17, Ilker, 32, Jordan, 22, Jason, 30, and James, 23, did not know one another but had all taken the drugs in the hours before they died.

On Wednesday, coroner Paresa Spanos said lives could be saved if the state government urgently introduced a public drug-checking service where samples could be rapidly analysed for content and purity.

She has also recommended the state government roll out an early warning network to alert the public to dangerous drugs in the community.

Monica Barratt, a drug policy expert at RMIT University, made recommendations to the inquest and said the suggestion that the Victorian government establish a rapid drug-market monitoring system presented a unique opportunity.

During the inquest it was revealed Victoria Police had known about the existence of the new and deadly drug in the community, circulating an internal memo warning members about the dangerous cocktail in late January 2017.

By then, all five men had already died.

Victoria Police later defended its decision not to warn the public about its knowledge of the dangerous cocktail of powerful substances.

Dr Barratt said the government should consider pharmacy drop boxes, amnesty bins at public events or even a secure postal-submission process where the public can anonymously submit drug samples for free and fast checking, in addition to a health service where drugs can be analysed.

Leaked Victoria police memo showing they knew the contents of mislabeled-MDMA. Taken February 2017.Credit:   

A dedicated agency should monitor the data and issue public health alerts if particularly risky samples were detected, just as infectious disease alerts were currently issued, she said.

“At the moment, this function is not anyone’s normal responsibility, nor is the work funded.

An alert posted on Revolver Upstairs' Facebook page in 2017 after a bad batch of ecstasy pills was linked to the death of five males.Credit:  

“The Andrews government has presided over a period of increased innovation in drugs policy. This report offers further opportunities to demonstrate its commitment to reducing drug-related deaths among Victorians.“

Victorian Drug and Alcohol Association spokesman David Taylor said the association fully supported the coroner’s recommendations and hoped any permanent drug-testing facility would also include access to drug treatment, harm reduction and rehabilitation options.

“These people thought the substance they were taking did not contain the synthetic substances that generated a greater risk for them. Had they been informed, they may have behaved differently,” he said.

“In 2019 there were 516 fatal overdoses. There is a need to address this crisis.”

Stigma continued to be a major deterrent in people seeking help for substance abuse, Mr Taylor said.

He said people needed to remember that four in 10 Australians would use an illicit drug in their lifetimes.

“Stereotypes can be incredibly damaging and really don’t capture the essence of a person, their experiences and their particular trauma,” he said.

“When people can generate a level of empathy and understanding towards the circumstances of others, it can reduce this stigma and increase help-seeking behaviour.

“This can have significant benefits in regards to community health.”

During the inquest in September 2020, the coroner heard the cluster of deaths was uncovered when 20 people were hospitalised in one weekend in January 2017, after taking what police thought was bad ecstasy in the Chapel Street nightclub precinct.

One died in front of his girlfriend, another on Christmas Day.

A police spokeswoman said any decision to allow public drug checking would be a matter for government and an early warning system would be a health-led initiative.

They said they would continue to work with stakeholders to reduce the harm caused by illicit drugs.

State Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the recommendations echoed their calls for pill testing.

“Our current war on drugs approach continues to put people’s lives at risk - we need to treat drug use in Australia as a health issue first,” Ms Ratnam said.

“It’s time for the government to finally acknowledge that its law and order approach isn’t working and instead choose policies that have worked elsewhere - like a front of house pill-testing program.“

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said while she supported any increase in the dissemination of information around the dangers of drug taking, introducing drug testing of any form would send the wrong message to young people.

“The message it would be sending is it’s cool to take this stuff. It’s not and it never has been,” she said.

“These drugs are dangerous and they can kill you.”

The government has been contacted for comment.

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