Pill-testing scrapped as deadly opioid emerges

A state government has been slammed for abandoning permanent pill-testing clinics after extremely potent synthetic opioids were found in Australian wastewater for the first time.

Queensland has decided not to renew contracts for fixed pill testing sites at Brisbane’s Bowen Hills and Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, with doors set to close on April 4.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Nick Yim said he was disappointed the state government had discontinued the service, and feared it would lead to higher rates of harm.

Signage in Fortitude Valley for CheQpoint, the pill testing sites that will close on April 4.Credit: Courtney Kruk

“It is disappointing the Crisafulli government, who was elected on a promise that they would listen to the experts, has once again dismissed the evidence supported by doctors,” he said in a statement.

Yim was concerned the sites were closing after a deadly synthetic opioid 40 times more powerful than fentanyl was detected for the first time in wastewater testing across Australia over the New Year period.

Two highly potent and addictive variants of nitazene – a psychoactive synthetic substance – were detected at five separate sites in Australia and the United States.

Nitazene, a type of synthetic opioid, was first presented to Brisbane’s pill-testing site last year, prompting a health alert.Credit: CheQpoint

Protonitazene is one of the variants and is three times stronger than fentanyl, a drug that has driven an overdose crisis in the US.

The other is etonitazepyne, which is 40 times more powerful than fentanyl.

Nitazene has led to fatal overdoses globally often due to being mixed with other illegal drugs such as MDMA or ketamine.

Considering the Australian wastewater findings, Yim said now was the best time for Queensland to have permanent pill-testing clinics.

“Without regulated testing, already vulnerable community members remain exposed to these hidden dangers,” he said.

He said health authorities could lose visibility of what dangerous substances are circulating.

The Queensland Mental Health Commission has been tasked with developing an overdose monitoring system but without an early warning system like pill-testing, Yim said it would do little to protect people.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls stood by the decision to rip up the clinic contracts, citing the LNP’s stance against drugs.

“We have made it abundantly clear that there is no good way to acquire drugs in the shadows, under the counter and we don’t believe that pill testing is going to resolve those issues,” he said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the state government made a pharmacist prescription program permanent after a six-month trial.

Nicholls said he received reports of 92 per cent satisfaction with the program that allows pharmacists to prescribe a range of common medications for contraception, nausea, acne and allergies.

Pharmacy prescription models have been rolled out in NSW and Victoria.

The decision was welcomed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which said it turned pharmacies into urgent-care clinics to provide access across the state.

But Yim said the trial had not been evaluated and he was concerned the government would ignore advice if the review came back negative.

“This is what they have done by refusing to follow the evidence about our world-leading drug diversion, pill testing and alcohol harm reduction programs,” he said.

AAP