NEWS ROOM
A selection of articles appearing in the media.
Coroners plead for a drug testing trial
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...
Canberra pill-testing service finds methamphetamine in counterfeit diet pill
CanTEST 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...
Renewed calls for pill testing at festivals and clubs
Stephanie 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...
Fresh calls for pill-testing after suspected drug overdose death at Victorian music festival
The 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...
NSW Health warns of opioid risk after people took heroin thinking it was cocaine or methamphetamine
The NSW health department has issued a drugs warning after 11 people who believed they were using cocaine or methamphetamine recently experienced an opioid overdose.
Emergency departments report spike in hospital admissions linked to illicit drug GHB or fantasy
Dr Green said that, without drug testing being made available to the public, it was too challenging to find out what was in a drug after a patient had suffered an overdose.
New drugs mean more risk of overdose. Experts say we need more pill testing now
Chemistry lead of CanTEST, Australia's only fixed-site drug checking service, Malcolm McLeod told ABC RN's Life Matters that "around 10 per cent to 15 per cent of samples [are] maybe not as expected".
No way for Sydneysiders to test the secret threats in drugs that could send them to the hospital
Gino Vumbaca, president of drug safety organisation Harm Reduction Australia, said his website receives “at least two to three emails a day” from people who want to safely test the pills that they or their children have.
How much a pill-testing trial would cost Victoria
A two-year pill-testing trial would cost Victoria about $3.7 million, the Parliamentary Budget Office has found, as left-wing crossbenchers pressure the state government over drug reform after overdoses at this summer’s festivals.
Public health warning: tablets sold as MDMA (Ecstasy) found to contain a potent opioid
NSW Health is warning of the dangers of tablets which are being sold as MDMA (ecstasy) and found to contain a potent opioid (nitazene). Three people presented to Sydney hospitals over the past weekend, after taking as little as half a tablet. One patient was admitted...
The state government must take this golden opportunity on pill testing
A 2023 report on the first six months of Canberra’s fixed drug-testing site showed that when a substance tested was not what the user expected, they were four times more likely to discard the drug. These tests can serve as a last-ditch attempt to save a life.
‘We have this conversation every summer’: The cost of MDMA overdoses
Victorian taxpayers spend up to $3.9 million a year on MDMA-related overdoses in ambulances, emergency departments, hospital admissions and coronial inquiries, leading advocates to argue there is a financial case for pill testing.
Canberra chemists identify three new recreational drugs after mystery substances turn up at Australia’s only fixed pill-testing site
Three mysterious recreational drugs have surfaced for the first time in Australia with chemists describing them as "unexpected, new psychoactive substances".
Dozens of drug deaths at music festivals potentially preventable, study finds
More than 60 music festival drug-related deaths over 20 years could have potentially been prevented, with experts saying the new study analysing national coronial records bolsters the case for pill testing.
How does Victoria’s stance on pill testing shape up against the rest of Australia? Here’s what you need to know
Pill testing advocates have long argued the service could reduce the harm of drug taking at festivals by helping users better understand the substances they may be consuming.
NSW’s Pill-Testing Stance A Risk As Festival Season Rages On
How many more of our young people will needlessly lose their lives this summer due to government inaction?
‘We’ve saved lives’ – NZ Drug checking service marks two years
It has been two years since Aotearoa's world-first law change came into effect allowing drug-checking organisations, such as the Drug Foundation and Know Your Stuff, to work legally at festivals.
Report shows MDMA involved in most drug-related music festival deaths | ABC News
Australian National University researchers say MDMA, otherwise known as ecstasy, contributed to more than 65% of all drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals. The report found there were 64 drug-related festival deaths over the past two decades. Co-author...
I was grateful my kids could get their pills tested, if they had any
Over the upcoming hot summer months young people in NSW will be heading to music festivals right across the state but unlike at Spilt Milk, young people will be denied the same chance to know more about any drugs they might be using and to have a conversation with a...
Four people hospitalised due to ‘drug issues’ after attending Western Sydney dance music festival
As the pill-testing debate rages on, several doctors say the conversation is swamped by political discourse and are concerned partygoers don't understand the risks in mixing certain drugs, how potency can turn lethal, and why extreme heat is deadly.
Drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals
New research available at the International Journal of Drug Policy
Harm Reduction Journal Publication on Pill Testing in Australia
A step change model analysis of the establishment of pill testing in one Australian jurisdiction
Greens introduce Pill Testing Bill in NSW Upper House
Greens MP and spokesperson for drug harm reduction, Cate Faehrmann, has introduced legislation that would allow a trial of pill testing at music festivals and a fixed site across New South Wales in the Upper House today.
Crossbench teams up on pill testing trial, as government says it’s open to cannabis discussion
Pill testing could be trialled over next year’s music festival season if three minor Victorian parties get their way on Thursday, a day after the state government announced it was open to talks about decriminalising personal use of cannabis.
Pill testing to go ahead on-site at Spilt Milk festival in Canberra
Pill Testing Australia confirmed on social media that the free drug-checking service would be available at Canberra's Spilt Milk festival on Saturday. The free, confidential service will be available to festival goers on the festival grounds from 11:30am.
KnowYourStuffNZ Celebrates Two Years Of Legality
On November 25, KnowYourStuffNZ is celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Act 2021. This Act made drug checking permanently legal in Aotearoa New Zealand, a world first.
Experts Have Renewed Calls To Legalise Pill Testing: Here’s How It Works & Where Things Are At
The Greens have renewed their calls for free pill testing, in an urge to the Victorian Labor Government to take up an offer to establish a free pill testing trial. It calls growing calls from all around Australia, as experts say pill testing is essential to saving...
Correspondence to Victorian Premier re Pill Testing
At an event at Parliament House today, PTA offered a cost-free trial of its public health based pill testing service to the Victorian Government - the offer is supported and endorsed by a variety of unions and organisations.
NSW police sniffer dogs incorrectly detect drugs on patrons despite costing taxpayers $46m over past decade
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
Urgent warning reignites calls to fix serious problem affecting young Aussies
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.
Debbie’s son overdosed. She thinks this state’s push for drug testing is a ‘no brainer’
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.
Novel drugs are leading to rising overdose deaths in Victoria – drug checking services could help
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.
NSW Labor MP speaks out in support over pill testing
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...
Greens want debate on pill testing after music festival deaths
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...
Music festivals, drugs, and your leal rights when dealing with police in NSW
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.
Pill testing service could return to Spilt Milk 2023 festival in Canberra
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...
Mother of teenager who died at Sydney music festival urges Minns government to introduce pill testing
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...
Two people dead after attending Knockout Outdoor music festival in Western Sydney
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.
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.
‘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...
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
HRA & PTA Online Education Course
How to sign up for Australia’s first dedicated harm reduction online education course HRA Online Course Announcement - June 2023
RACGP Supports Expert Calls for Drug Testing
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has backed calls for drug testing services to save lives at risk.