Enough evidence to support introduction of pill testing in NSW, inquiry told

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Enough evidence to support introduction of pill testing in NSW, inquiry told

By Julie Power

A world expert on drug policy has told an inquiry into the drug ice and other amphetamines, including MDMA (ecstasy), that there is "sufficient evidence" overseas and in Australia to support the introduction of drug or pill testing in NSW.

Professor Alison Ritter called for a trial of pill testing at festivals in evidence to the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug 'Ice' and other amphetamines on Monday.

Professor Alison Ritter said the evidence from around the world supports pill testing at festivals to reduce harm.

Professor Alison Ritter said the evidence from around the world supports pill testing at festivals to reduce harm. Credit: Danielle Smith

The inquiry also heard from Dr David Caldicott, an emergency consultant from Calvary Hospital in the ACT, who said the delays in introducing trials of pill testing had been frustrating.

Dr Caldicott conducted a trial of pill testing at Groovin the Moo in Canberra this year. He attributed the trial's success to the event's goal of creating a "death-free festival" instead of a "drug-free festival".

His job as a doctor was to ensure people could get home to "their mummies and daddies".

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If the debate focused on "more of that, [rather] than making a moral judgment, you would have a much safer festival environment", he said.

Announcing the inquiry in May, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was "convinced" that it would find no evidence to support pill testing.

But in Sydney on Monday, Professor Ritter said pill testing achieved all three pillars of the National Drug Policy. It reduced demand, supply and harm.

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She told the inquiry that festival goers who discover that substances are contaminated will discard the drugs. They will also use less, reducing demand. They may take the same amount of drugs but do it more safely, such as taking the drug over a longer period, thus reducing the harm. The festivalgoer may tell friends that a substance was harmful, and a supplier may discard the drugs, reducing supply.

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Both sides of the pill testing debate wanted to save lives, but opponents believed it was wrong to take drugs, she said. The other side was more pragmatic, saying an individual's decision to take drugs should be respected. And given that, users should be given better information about the drug they were about to consume.

Professor Ritter, the director of the drug policy modelling program at the University of NSW, has advised international committees including the United Nations Office on drugs and crime, published  80 papers and won numerous awards.

She has given similar evidence to the coronial inquiry into the deaths of six young people — Alex Ross-King, 19, Joshua Tam, 22, Callum Brosnan, 21, Diana Nguyen, 21, Joseph Pham, 23, and Nathan Tran, 18. They died after attending music festivals between December 2017 and January 2019. Each had taken MDMA.

Professor Ritter said Australia's spending on drug policy had shifted to an increased emphasis on reducing supply. About 65 per cent was spent on that, compared with only two to five per cent on harm reduction.

In contrast, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Portugal had implemented compassionate programs emphasising harm reduction.

In March, the United Nations launched the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy, and called for the decriminalisation of small amounts of drugs for personal use. It said "approaches that violate human rights and fail to curb the illicit drug trade are leaving a trail of human suffering."

In her opening address, Sally Dowling, SC, said festival pill testing and fixed-site pill testing had operated in Europe since the 1980s. By 2017 there were more than 30 pill testing services in 20 countries.

Compared to other drugs, ecstasy is the 17th most harmful out of a list of 20 substances. Alcohol is the most damaging. Heroin is the second-most harmful, and crack cocaine the third, followed by methamphetamine.

Gino Vumbaca, the founder of Harm Reduction Australia and a leading supporter of pill testing, said he had been surprised by the misinformation spread by politicians who knew little about pill testing. Once he met with them, they were more responsive.

"We are still working through misinformation and misunderstanding about what we do," he told the inquiry.

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