Mass arrests part of NSW pill testing program proposal

[poledriver]

Mass arrests part of NSW pill testing program proposal

Drug expert vows pill testing trial at music festivals
Mother who lost son to drugs calls for pill testing
Pill testing 'ridiculous': NSW Premier

Large-scale civil disobedience and mass arrests are being factored into a plan to rollout the first ever pill testing at NSW festivals before the end of the year, as the NSW Deputy Premier flagged organisers could be charged with drug supply and manslaughter.

The pilot program – the first of its kind to provide mobile laboratory-grade drug testing in Australia – will be carried out inside a van staffed with toxicologists, and shielded from police by barriers of supporters willing to risk arrest to protect others from prosecution, drug law reform advocates said.

Will Tregoning, the founder of drug law reform agency Unharm, said the civil disobedience model was necessary after the NSW government reaffirmed its staunch opposition to pill testing on Monday.

"We absolutely have to create that sense of trust around the service.

"One way we will be doing that is by ensuring there are very many supporters of the service present to essentially created a buffer from police activity for consumers accessing the service."

He said the buffer zone was designed to hamper police efforts to identify who was in possession of the drugs, potentially leading to mass arrests.

Mr Tregoning is one of three drug reform advocates – along with President of the Australian Drug Reform Foundation Alex Wodak and emergency medical specialist David Caldicott – spearheading​ the pill-testing pilot program, which was revealed by the Herald on Sunday.

He said the pilot was still "months away", but there had already been a "flood of support" including from a number of festival promoters.

While the initial trial would be held in the most receptive state, he said organisers were committed to trialling the service in NSW by the end of the year.

"It need not be in NSW first but the pressure on NSW is not going to stop. It's going to happen here."

Mr Wodak said $100,000 would be crowdsourced​ to run the pilot program, the bulk of which would be used to buy the the laboratory testing equipment, and cover the travelling costs of toxicologist and technicians who he said would provide about $40,000 of pro bono​ labour.

"We're getting [donation] offers already. I think people are very interested in this. I think some philanthropic types will come out of the woodwork."

At least $15,000 of the raised funds would be used to have the trial independently evaluated by scientists, he said.

On Monday, Deputy Premier Troy Grant slammed the proposal as a "very dangerous regime that the NSW government fundamentally rejects".

He said those connected with the pilot program were risking "a lot of legal jeopardy" including prosecution for drug possession and drug supply, as well as more serious consequences for giving the all-clear to a pill that could prove fatal.

"f these pills go wrong and kill someone they may well be vulnerable to manslaughter charges," he told 2UE radio.

Mr Grant also questioned the logistics of testing large numbers of pills but conceded: "I don't know a lot about the engineering of the pill testing, or how it's made up or the science behind it exactly."

Mr Tregoning said education was a core feature of the pill testing service, and would involve on-site analytical chemists to interpret test results and a safe disposal bin for users to discard toxic drugs.

"If people are in possession of substances that place them at a really high risk, we want them to throw them away and the best way to do that is to provide them with information.

"As long as government continues to stand in the way of this service they are making it more likely that people will die."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/mass-arre...m-proposal-20160229-gn6d4o.html#ixzz41aBte915

 

[spacejunk]

I love me some civil disobedience.
These are some brave people, wishing to stand up against the cold indifference of the ignorant establishment.
In solidarity, i hope to be able to help this campaign - "by any means necessary"

 

[poledriver]

NSW police minister says pill-testers could be charged with manslaughter

The drug experts who pledged to bring pill-testing to Australian festivals “to save lives” could be charged with manslaughter, says NSW Police Minister and Deputy Premier Troy Grant.

Grant has today said that Dr Alex Wodak and emergency medical specialist David Caldicott will be putting themselves in “legal jeopardy” if they go ahead with pill-testing trials, and could be arrested for anything from possession and supply of illegal drugs to more serious charges. “If these [tested] pills go wrong and kill someone, they may well be vulnerable to manslaughter charges,” he said.

READ MORE

Pill-testing will happen in Australia - whether the government likes it or not

Grant’s claims were part of an amazing rant on talkback radio station 2UE this morning, that touched on everything from pill-testing and the law to The Trouble With Young People Today, with their internet, mobile phones and video games.
In the 15-minute chat, Grant conflated ecstasy users with ice addicts, claimed that people take MDMA to “fill a void in their lives”, and said that drug use is already being classified as a health issue in Australia (“there’s been $1 million spent [on treatment] in my local area,” Grant said – against the $1.2 billion spent nationally each year on policing and investigating drugs).

The trouble, according to Grant, is Young People. “The generation we have now,” Grant said, “‘Generation Me’ I think they’re calling it, they’re desensitized but they’re also cavalier, and I think it stems from, in their life, they’re able to hit the refresh button on the internet or their phones; playing video games there’s a reset button once they’ve crashed the car or shot all the people.

“In life, there is no reset button: you take a pill, it kills you, it harms you irreversibly – you can’t hit a reset button on life… We have to be vigilant on that message that you cannot take these things [pills] without significant risk.”

READ MORE

We used to have pill testing at festivals - why did it stop?

As for the clandestine pill-testing trials proposed by Dr Wodak and Dr Caldicott, Grant remains unmoved from his zero-tolerance position. “We’re open to ideas,” Grant said, “but not to running a pill-testing regime…because there’s no way we’re gonna run a quality assurance program for drug dealers – they’re illegal.

“They [Dr Wodak and Dr Caldicott] can’t thumb their nose at the law… They have the right to an opinion about this and to look at other remedies, but this is one remedy that we won’t accept… Let’s not forget first principles, these things are an illegal drug, and while they’re illegal, we won’t be copping this campaign.”

The flaw in Grant’s argument, as harm reduction activist Johnboy Davidson told inthemix last year, is that NSW already has a program in place where police look the other way while drug users are allowed to safely take drugs: the medically supervised injecting rooms.

All that’s needed for pill-testing to work in NSW is the same kind of agreement to allow the doctors “to do their work without the fear of having their careers burnt to the ground”. But as Troy Grant keeps telling us, that “will not happen in NSW while [he’s] the police minister”. Listen to the full interview with 2UE below.

http://inthemix.junkee.com/nsw-poli...ers-could-be-charged-with-manslaughter/139137

 

[poledriver]

What a total dickhead Troy Grant is. I dont take pills or goto festivals anymore but I really hope pill testing at events can happen again somehow. I hope a lot of Aussies arch up about Mr Grant and his lies and agenda. How on earth is it a bad thing for pill testing to happen? As pointed out at the end of the article how can people be let to go and shoot up in the supervised injection centre at Kings cross but people can't have their pills checked at a festival?

On the other hand I hope he doesn't push for the injection centre to be closed. This guy really pisses me off.

 

[spacejunk]

That Four Corners episode a couple of weeks back really showed what a damn fool Grant is.
People are dying, and he wants to threaten people wanting to reduce harm - with manslaughter?
He should be facing charges for preventing them from assisting.

Nice move by Dr Wodak and Dr Caldicott to push the issue in this way. People need to stand up to these hypocrites - and that is exactly what they are doing.
Much respect

 

[poledriver]

Stereosonic throws full support behind pill testing

The organisers of Stereosonic, one of Australia's largest annual music events, have become the first to publicly support on-site pill testing after two patrons died at their events last year.

The misrepresentation is that we are there to condone drug use and this couldn't be further from the truth.

Dr David Caldicott

Electronic music company Totem OneLove Group, which runs the Stereosonic festivals, gave their "full support" to hold a pilot pill-testing program at the Sydney leg, providing the NSW government and other key stakeholders support the process.

In a statement provided to Fairfax Media, a spokesman for the company said they "strongly support[ed] any policies or initiatives that would minimise harm, reduce drug use and make events a safer environment for patrons."

"In principle, pill testing would have our full support as long as all the key stakeholders sanctioned the initiative to ensure its effectiveness."

It is the first time a leading music festival has welcomed the introduction of pill testing inside festival grounds. It follows one of the deadliest festival seasons to date, which saw three deaths from suspected overdoses, dozens of drug-related hospitalisations and hundreds of arrests.

n 2015, Stereosonic was held in five capital cities, including Sydney, across two weekends in November and December. Tragedy struck both weekends after pharmacist Sylvia Choi, 25, and Stefan Woodward, 19, died from suspected overdoses at the Sydney and Adelaide events.

The NSW government renewed its staunch opposition to drug-checking services on Monday, after it was revealed in the Sun Herald a team of drug law reform advocates planned to roll out privately-funded pill testing at NSW festivals by the end of the year.

Deputy Premier Troy Grant said the architects of the pilot pill-testing program, led by emergency medical specialist Dr David Caldicott and President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation Dr Alex Wodak, risked arrest for drug supply and manslaughter should they attempt to carry out the testing in NSW.

"f these pills go wrong and kill someone they may well be vulnerable to manslaughter charges," he told 2UE radio.

In the same interview Mr Grant also conceded he did not know how the testing regime worked.

"I don't know a lot about the engineering of the pill testing, or how it's made up or the science behind it exactly."

Dr Caldicott told the Herald the pilot program would follow the testing procedure already in place at large music festivals across Europe, using laboratory-grade forensic-testing machinery.

"We have thought this through for over a decade; we've had multiple legal opinions.

"The misrepresentation is that we are there to condone drug use and this couldn't be further from the truth."

Dr Caldicott said the exact format of the pilot program would be contingent upon the support of festival organisers but would likely involve a pill-testing marquee located inside the festival.

Under the condition of anonymity, festival-goers would provide a sample of their pill, powder or capsule into a into a supplied container.

A licensed forensic chemist would then run the sample through a process called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, which would identify every chemical found in the sample, including the presence of unknown substances, he said.

If MDMA was found to be present, the sample would be run through a second machine to determine dosage.

"One of the things we are most concerned with about it is extremely toxic levels of MDMA. The idea of MDMA can never be dangerous is rubbish."

Dr Caldicott said the testing process would take between 25-40 minutes and a forensic chemist would always explain the results of the testing and discourage festival-goers from taking the substance.

"No individual is ever told their product is safe or good by anyone, ever.

"If something particularly hazardous is identified, warnings can be flashed around the festival and even put up on the big screen."

Dr Caldicott said the recent flooding of the Australian drug market with toxic synthetic substances designed to avoid detection made pill testing an imperative.

"This is one of the reasons why we have to do this. There are things out there we have never been seen before. When that happens, the clear message is this has never be seen, do not take this."

A key feature of the pilot program would be the provision of amnesty bins where patrons could dump their toxic substances, he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/stereoson...ll-testing-20160301-gn7gtp.html#ixzz41gHziahR

 

[poledriver]

Why is it okay to ban pill testing if you don't really know what it is?

The recent announcement by two Australian do-gooders, Alex Wodak (infamous for spearheading the country’s first legal injecting centre in Kings Cross) and emergency medical consultant David Caldicott, to bring pill testing services to Australian music festivals, has left the NSW Parliament wondering what pill testing actually is. Comedian Bish Marzook helps give them insight

In an interview with Stuart Bocking on 2UE on Monday, Deputy Premier and Police Minister Troy Grant admitted that while he “didn’t know the science behind it,” he was vehemently against the proposed pill testing regime, because he didn’t want to provide a “false sense of security” to young festival-goers. As NSW Police Minister though, he probably already knows a thing or two about false senses of security.

NSW Premier Mike Baird similarly dismissed any pill-testing plans as ”ridiculous”, and “condoning what illegal drug dealers are doing”.

Contrary to what the parliamentary after-party-poopers will tell you, pill testing is not about “giving a green light” to people, or even supporting the black market drug industry. It’s about giving people more information about what they might be putting into their bodies.

"I don't know what this is but I'll be damned if I'm going to learn!"

It’s like taking an STI test before you decided to go “all natural” with your partner. Medicare provides that service for free, so why not do the same for drugs that people are definitely going to take anyway?

We know that excessively fatty and sugary foods aren’t good for you. We know that consuming too much alcohol in a night isn’t good for you. But we have not made those things illegal (yet). Instead, we’ve slapped products with ingredient lists, health star ratings or standard drinks measurements, because we allow people to make their own choices (so far).

The government is concerned that being given the all-clear on certain pills will mean revellers will take more than they should. But that is not how pill-testing sites usually work, according to reports gathered from various pill-testing organisations that have been operating in Europe for years. Consumers are given an outline of the contents of drugs they bring to be tested, and are free to make informed decisions based on that information.

If someone is visiting a pill-testing tent to assess the contents of a drug they are considering taking, that’s a sign of a responsible person wanting to have a good time. It’s like checking the sugar content on your coconut water to make sure you’re drinking just coconut water, and not coconut-flavoured diluted pineapple juice. Gross.

Pill testing would be doing the same thing, and who knows, this may even open up a market for value-added nutritious recreational drugs: “VitaMolly, now with added vitamins and minerals for the growing raver!”.

That may seem like a terrible joke that I just made up to make a point, but in addition to that, research also shows that continuous testing of drugs by users has the ability to change the black market and even shape it, such that ingredients of pills correspond more and more to their expected components over time .

In addition, pill-testing venues provide a safe space for dialogue about drug-taking behaviour, providing and gathering information about what is on the market, as well as a host of other community care services.

Of course, there will be people who may decide not to heed the advice of experts even after their pills have been tested. For every person that chooses the non-fat, lactose-free organic option, there will be someone who decides that whipped cream is the best conduit for their cereal (it’s actually pretty good you guys #noregrets).

You can make whipped cream illegal (oh gosh typing that sentence killed me a little inside), or train armies of dogs since puppyhood to sniff out sources of the whipped cream (I would like to adopt two please), but the whipped cream is here to stay.

Yes, most recreational drugs are still illegal, and yes a few of them have the potential to do serious harm. But it’s clear that their use isn’t going to ease up any time soon.

In conversation with Deputy Premier Troy Grant, 2UE presenter Stuart Bocking stated that “the current system isn’t perfect, but for the time being it’s about as good as it’s gonna get”.

Never have more reassuring words about public policy been spoken.

Things can always be better, and currently it’s clear that the nanny state laws don’t work; they’re just making it worse. If the government really cared about saving people’s lives more than upholding the current version of the law to a T, hopefully it will see that arming people with information can only ever be a good thing.

http://www.sbs.com.au/comedy/articl...-pill-testing-if-you-dont-really-know-what-it