Revellers at Victorian music festivals would be allowed to test the make-up of drugs they're planning to take, if a campaign by a prominent emergency doctor succeeds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Canberra-based emergency physician David Caldicott is leading a push to introduce drug-checking laboratories at Victorian festivals.
Dr Caldicott said he had conveyed the idea to police and is calling on the Andrews government to back his plan.
He is yet to gain approval for the drug-testing laboratories but remains hopeful the government may eventually support the campaign.
Dr Caldicott said drug checking saved lives and could even deter festival goers from taking illicit substances if they were informed about what they contained.
"This is so mainstream in Europe now. There's actually a guideline about how to best do it."
He said festival goers in Europe were able to submit scrapings or samples of their drugs to onsite laboratories that then issued information about the substance.
Particularly harmful substances were displayed on a screen as a public health announcement without naming the individual who had submitted the sample.
Dr Caldicott said the tests took between 20 and 45 minutes.
"At no stage within this system is there any suggestion that we are encouraging drug use. Nobody ever gets told 'this is great and you should use it'."
A drug-testing trial was conducted on substances taken from a South Australian festival about 10 years ago, Dr Caldicott said.
A police spokeswoman said there was currently limited data on the effectiveness of pill testing in Australia.
"Drug testing in its current format is both limited and unreliable and raises a number of serious health and legal issues," she said.
However, the spokeswoman said Victoria Police encouraged event organisers to "consider a range of actions that promote a safe environment where the potential for illicit drug use is high."
Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said there were no plans to begin testing of drugs at public venues. But he said the government supported a parliamentary inquiry that will examine laws on illicit and synthetic drugs and prescription medication, which was proposed by Sex Party MP Fiona Patten.
Rainbow Serpent Festival director Tim Harvey said the event would offer free breath tests and subsidised drug tests to prevent potentially impaired drivers from leaving the site in Lexton in regional Victoria.
He said festival organisers were willing to look at drug checking "very seriously" together with emergency service and health providers.
Mr Harvey insisted festival organisers "strongly discourage" taking drugs but treating their recreational use as a criminal matter could be "incredibly harmful".
"We need some progressive and brave politicians who recognise the current approach isn't working and can communicate the benefits of changing strategies to the mainstream Australian population," he said.
