Author: Gideon Warhaft
Fresh calls to end use of sniffer dogs at festivals after report finds low success rate
New figures indicate drug detection dogs have a low success rate. Some are urging for an end to their use at music festivals – as well as the practice of strip searches – and the implementation of pill testing. Read more
‘Out of control’: new findings suggest NSW Police aren’t abiding by strip search procedures
Gino Vumbaca, President of Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia, questioned why strip searching has to continue in the first place. “I think what’s fundamentally missing from this report is an understanding of the impact of strip searching people, and young people at that”. Read more
Waiting for a crisis: Fears as NSW enters festival season without drug reform
Harm Reduction Australia has offered to run a free pill testing trial at any festival of the NSW government’s choosing, but has been told no decisions will be made until after a drug summit.
VIDEO: Calls for pill testing ahead of summer festival season
Advocates for drug testing have called on NSW Premier Chris Minns to introduce it ahead of the busy Summer festival season – ABC Watch video
The quiet champions of pill testing preventing “harrowing” deaths
This is the spot where Professor Mal McLeod goes quietly about the business of saving lives in the Canberra region, though the analytical chemist is slow to embrace the lifesaver tag. Read more
Calls to take Canberra’s drug-checking service CanTEST on the road to better help Australians
In just over a year of operation, CanTEST has checked 1,250 samples of recreational drugs like ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and cocaine, as well as harder drugs of dependence like heroin and ice. Read more
VIDEO: Drop-in drug checking clinic provides worrying insight into Australia’s party drugs
Nearly a thousand people have come forward to have their drugs tested and the results suggest a host of dangerous supplements and contamination may be found in the country’s party drugs. Watch video
Labor under pressure for drug reform after Sydney’s spate of shootings
President of Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia Gino Vumbaca said the organisation had offered to run free pill testing trials, both during last month’s pride month or at a future music festival, which were not responded to favourably. Read more
What did Australia’s first drug-checking site CanTEST find in its inaugural year?
CanTEST, which has been operating for about a year in Canberra’s CBD, is free and open to anyone who wants to know the contents of their pills or drugs. Read more
Majority support for drug checking services
A new La Trobe University study shows majority support for drug checking services with 56 per cent of the over 18,000 respondents supporting related policies. Read more