Author: Gideon Warhaft

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 June this year, 94,535 general and strip-searches were prompted by the dogs but nearly 75% of these searches yielded no illicit drugs. Read more

Dr David Caldicott, Clinical Lead for Pill Testing Australia and CANTest, who provide festival and fixed-site health and drug checking services in the ACT, told Yahoo News Australia that Canberra has offered other states, like NSW, free trials. Read more

The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA), with the support of 77 health and community organisations, published a statement on Monday pushing for the Victorian government to implement a drug-checking service and early warning system in the state. Read more

Many of the harms people experience from using illegal drugs are a result of unregulated supply. Drugs may be contaminated, or completely substituted with something unexpected. They may also be of variable and unknown dosage or strength. Read more

The trial would not require new legislation and could be achieved through “existing frameworks”, said Murphy, a former president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties. He said NSW Health could issue licences to existing drug-checking services like Pill Testing Australia. Read more

Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia president Gino Vumbaca said drug-checking services could not operate without the support of government and the police. “The bill would remove any doubt about our permission to operate,” he said. “Politicians are way behind the community when it comes to what people support. This is a public health…

As the weather warms and music festival season approaches, a concern for many attendees will be how to deal with police and what your rights are. This is due to the often-overwhelming presence of police officers and sniffer dogs at festivals and concerts. Read more

A deal’s not done until it’s done, of course, but Mr Vumbaca is hopeful after failing to get anywhere with hundreds of other insurers. If he is right, pill-testing at the festival on November 25 would be there just after possession of small amounts of drugs was decriminalized on October 28, so making penalties light.…

Ms Ross-King and her family have campaigned for active measures to reduce drug-related risks, including pill testing. “The premier, government, governments before them … they want young people to change their behaviour,” she said. “They are not going to change their behaviour. The government needs to change their behaviour.” Read more

President of Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia Gino Vumbaca said his offer to conduct free trials had been knocked back by the state government for the past five years. Read more