Queensland to introduce pill testing at Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival, where two people died in 2019 Mar 19, 2024Pill Testing Australia executive officer Stephanie Tzanetis said drug checking was “very much something that the community wants”. She said Pill Testing Australia was excited to begin expanding more testing sites across music festivals.
Coroners plead for a drug testing trial Mar 14, 2024 In January, Ms Allan said she had sought that advice after at least 10 people were taken to hospital following suspected drug use at festivals. “There are no current plans to change the policy setting on drug checking,” she said at the time. Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia in November announced they formally offered to host a public health based pill testing trial at a festival of the government’s choice at no cost to the state.
Canberra pill-testing service finds methamphetamine in counterfeit diet pill Mar 13, 2024CanTEST Coordinator Steph Tzanetis told ABC Radio Canberra this particular drug had been purchased from “the clear net, not the dark web”. She said taking the potent drug, methamphetamine, could have resulted in the person experiencing a stimulant overdose. “So the signs and symptoms relating to a stimulant overdose can include things like overheating, a person could experience confusion, agitation,” Ms Tzanetis said.
Renewed calls for pill testing at festivals and clubs Mar 12, 2024Stephanie Tzanetis is coordinator for Directions Health at CanTEST, the A-C-T’s fixed site pill testing service. She’s also the Executive Officer at Pill Testing Australia, which provided Australia’s first on-site music festival pill testing at Groovin the Moo in 2018. She says results from the first six months of the ACT trials, which were independently evaluated by the Australian National University, show drug testing significantly reduces, but doesn’t remove all drug harms.
Fresh calls for pill-testing after suspected drug overdose death at Victorian music festival Mar 11, 2024The Victorian government is being urged to reassess its stance on pill-testing after the death of a man from a suspected drug overdose at a weekend music festival. The 23-year-old was airlifted in a critical condition to the Alfred hospital in Melbourne from Mafeking near Ararat, in the state’s south-west, in the early hours of Sunday but later died.
NSW Health warns of opioid risk after people took heroin thinking it was cocaine or methamphetamine Feb 23, 2024The NSW health department has issued a drugs warning after 11 people who believed they were using cocaine or methamphetamine recently experienced an opioid overdose.