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Aus - Police say dance party pill-testers risk arrest

poledriver

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Jul 21, 2005
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Police say dance party pill-testers risk arrest

Organisers of proposed pill-testing at Victorian events risk prosecution if they proceed with plans for a trial, police have warned.

New internal legal advice from Victoria Police has indicated that people conducting pill-testing to determine the make-up of illicit substances could face criminal charges.

In a statement, Victoria Police said those handling illicit substances as part of a pill-testing service could be liable for prosecution, under current conditions.

"In Victoria it is currently unlawful to use, possess, cultivate or traffic illicit drugs in any form," it said.

In some European countries pill-testing is common at clubs and festivals, allowing people to submit small samples of their substances that are then analysed for their chemical make-up.

In Australia, campaigners for the introduction of pill-testing at events argue it could save lives by warning revellers about dangerous substances in drugs they plan to consume.

Canberra-based emergency medical specialist, David Caldicott, has been calling for pill-testing trials at festivals in Victoria and throughout Australia.

He said separate legal advice he had sought indicated licensed forensic chemists could not be prosecuted for operating pill-testing services.

"We're very confident that were we to be arrested in this environment it would be [a] wrongful arrest," he said.

However, Dr Caldicott said he wanted to work with police because people submitting drug samples for testing could face arrest.

"It really comes down to how law enforcement wants to police these events," Dr Caldicott said.

Dr Caldicott wants festival-goers to be granted an amnesty to use pill-testing services.

Drug samples would not be returned to revellers, under Dr Caldicott's proposal.

So far about 25 forensic chemists around Australia had offered to volunteer if pill-testing trials did proceed, Dr Caldicott said.

Australian Drug Law Reform president Alex Wodak has previously said he was not concerned about the prospect of arrest in connection with pill-testing.

Victorian Sex Party MP Fiona Patten, who also supports the push for pill-testing in Victoria, said a trial could provide police with valuable information about the drugs in circulation.

"The most sensible way would be to test it at one festival and for the police to allow it happen," she said.

"One of the great things about pill-testing is the data it can provide to the police about what types of substances are out there in the marketplace."

A spokeswoman for Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the government currently has no plans to introduce legislation to allow for pill-testing at events in Victoria.

However, she said the government was committed to reducing harm associated with drugs and alcohol.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into laws and procedures on illicit and synthetic substances will consider a range of matters, including sniffer dogs at music festivals and the effectiveness of roadside drug testing.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/p...testers-will-face-arrest-20160710-gq2dol.html
 
NSW police were advised pill testers unlikely to be prosecuted

Deputy Premier Troy Grant is refusing to say if he was told NSW Police were advised more than a decade ago that testing of illicit drugs at music festivals would be unlikely to break state laws.

Reference to the advice was in a research paper by consultant Will Tregoning that was sent to the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet last month.

It contradicts comments on Monday by Mr Grant, who is also Police Minister, that groups planning to offer the service were "putting themselves in a lot of legal jeopardy".

A spokeswoman for Mr Grant said his office does not discuss his briefings but that the government's "current" legal advice is that the police have the power to take action against pill testers at festivals, depending on the circumstances.

Emergency medical specialist David Caldicott and Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak are proposing to establish a drug-checking service despite the NSW government's refusal to consider an official trial.

Fairfax Media has confirmed the Premier's department contacted the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre the day after ABC's Four Corners screened a program on the testing issue.

It is understood the department requested information on the pros and cons of drug testing.

NDARC had been reviewing Mr Tregoning's research paper and suggested the department might benefit from reading it. Mr Tregoning emailed the paper to the department, which responded that it was "highly useful".

Mr Tregoning's research cites a 2001 federal Health Department paper, updated in 2005, on the social, health and legal issues surrounding drug testing.

The paper refers to advice NSW Police received from its Courts and Legal Services division.

It said depending on the circumstances, "[a] tester in the context of a testing station would not be committing an offence of possession because the charge requires that the person has knowledge of the substance being an illicit drug and has physical control over the substance ... "

"[A] tester would not know what the substance was until after the test was performed and it is likely that holding the drug for long enough to perform a test does not constitute control," it said.

"NSW Police Service also considered it unlikely that a person who provides a testing facility could be found guilty of the offence of aiding or abetting the possession or use of a prohibited drug.

"It is believed that for a person to be aiding and abetting the offence they must be 'linked in purpose' with the drug user and that it is also necessary for the person to engage in some action or encouragement which makes the offence more likely to occur."

A spokeswoman for Mr Grant said the government's "current legal advice is that NSW legislation provides the NSW Police Force with the power to take action against pill testers at music festivals".

"As in all police investigations, each case would need to be investigated according to its circumstances," she added.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-polic...prosecuted-20160303-gn9tz5.html#ixzz4EAebHDCO
 
I guess police don't want their bread and butter taken away, in spite of being told that the testers won't be prosecuted. In the states, police forces get federal money for every arrest they have on the books for drug possession. Is it the same in Australia?
 
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