Six reasons Australia should pilot 'pill testing' party drugs

Six reasons Australia should pilot 'pill testing' party drugs
by Alison Ritter
Nov 12 2014

he death of 19-year-old Georgina Bartter at a music festival on the weekend from a suspected ecstasy overdose could possibly have been avoided with a simple harm-minimisation intervention. Pill testing, or drug checking as it's known in Europe, provides feedback to users on the content of illegal drugs, allowing them to make informed choices.

Taking illicit drugs, especially ecstasy, is not particularly unusual for someone of Bartter's age. A 2010 survey found more than 11% of 20- to 29-year-olds and 7% of 18- to 19-year-olds had taken the drug in the previous 12 months. According to annual research among 1,000 ecstasy users, 70% of these pills are taken at clubs, festivals and dance parties.

Australia is internationally applauded for our harm-minimisation approach to drugs but we have failed to introduce pill testing, even though it is an intuitively appealing strategy.

Wide support

Pill-testing kits or booths at venues where pills are known to be consumed could inform users about the content of illicit drugs. As we have equipment that can test drugs in real time, people intending to take them could have them checked beforehand.

Research shows young people are highly supportive of pill testing; more than 82% of the 2,300 young Australians aged between 16 and 25 years surveyed for the Australian National Council on Drugs in 2013 supported its introduction. The finding is consistent with young people's overall views about drugs: they want better information in order to make informed choices.

Pill testing is not a radical idea. As a harm-reduction intervention provided by community and local governments, it's available in several European countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain and France. But the legal status of the service is unclear and there is no formal government endorsement of the measure.

Nonetheless, its effectiveness is strongly grounded in evidence. There are good reasons why this country should introduce the measure.

Continued here http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-australia-pill-party-drugs.html

I dont know if it would have saved her, if the pills were strong MDMA then it would have been a positive test for MDxx and still consumed.

But yes I do support the idea of having pill testing tents for sure, and even test kits being sold at festivals and raves is a good idea imo, so party people can take it home and use it there before they head out and stuff. Australia has a huge amount of shitty pills, so it would prevent some people taking substances that were not MDxx.

It might save some but not all. Even dud pills will be necked despite being told they aren't mdma. A change in attitude to getting high, either with alcohol or drugs needs to occur

As much as this poor girls death has bought the debate to the front page, you have to be realistic and accept that deaths do occur with drug use. HR is harm reduction, not harm elimination. Being able to know the strength of pills is just as important as its contents. Unfortunately this isn't a quick 5 min technique that can be done at a festival or club setting

poledriver said:

I dont know if it would have saved her, if the pills were strong MDMA then it would have been a positive test for MDxx and still consumed.

Click to expand...

Part of the testing process usually involves a careful measurement of the pill or pills in question & a comparison using a data base of other recent samples, some of which may have been lab tested. If so, any extra strong pill would easily be ID'd & the expectant raver warned to halve or quarter the pill. Ladies in particular are more susceptible to stronger pills because they generally have a lower body weight.

It's very sad to lose ravers to drugs OD that could/might/may have been prevented.

Si Ingwe said:

Part of the testing process usually involves a careful measurement of the pill or pills in question & a comparison using a data base of other recent samples, some of which may have been lab tested. If so, any extra strong pill would easily be ID'd & the expectant raver warned to halve or quarter the pill....

It's very sad to lose ravers to drugs OD that could/might/may have been prevented.

Click to expand...

This.

Tested pills can be recorded
linked + databased.

An attitude of harm reduction
in a place also leads to faster seaking of
medical attention in the event of complications.

So what happens when a new pill that's not in the database is tested on site and they give you a positive reading for MDxx? But it's not in the database yet, and it's a very strong new pill @ 300mg's. And the person goes and consumes 2? I dont see how a database would really help then, new pills come out every day.

But yeah in theory that's a great idea. But in reality it will not happen in Australia for a very long time.

One Word Bust said:

It might save some
but not all.

Click to expand...

Harm Reduction > Harm

Hai
Mxld

I found the following comment on a version of this article published on a different website:

...this whole debate is an expression of white, middle class privilege. No other demographic is part of determined attempts to assist them to break the law safely. Instead, we see people on prescribed communities subject to fines and arrest for manufacturing alcohol on their communities. We see a massive discrepancy between high SES and low SES patients in the prescription of pain medications. We see young people of privilege making a choice to break the law, because they seem to be under the impression that legal consequences will have minimal impact on their life chances. It's a problem that we need to acknowledge. We also need to acknowledge that harm minimisation also applies only to the end user - not to the many victims worldwide of the drug trade's criminal activity.

While legalisation may ameliorate this problem, currently, people who choose to take drugs are responsible for funding reprehensible crimes against humanity. If they want to take drugs, they need to advocate for legalisation - not simply ignore the law. They are the people, due to their position of privilege, best placed to actually effect this change. However, since there is currently no impetus for them (as can be seen through their decision to ignore the law), they don't seem to be bothered.

Click to expand...

This is a terrific point. It is fundamentally unjust and selfish to use an illicit drug and not to support its legalization, but unfortunately it seems that the majority of users of most drugs do hold this position.