The NSW Government Has Established A Panel To Advise On Drug Safety At Music Festivals
It follows the deaths of two festival goers at Defqon.1 on the weekend.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced the formation of a “high level expert” panel to advise the government on drug safety at music festivals.
The move follows the tragic deaths of two attendees of Defqon.1 festival in Penrith over the weekend from suspected drug overdoses. Two others, one from Artarmon and the other from Jamisontown, both remain in a critical condition in hospital.
The panel is comprised of health professionals and Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, and the Chair of the Independent Office of Liquor & Gaming, Philip Crawford.
According to an official media release, the panel will advise the government on whether harsher penalties are needed (or whether new offences should be introduced), how music festivals can work better to prevent drug deaths at their events, and whether further drug education is needed within the community.
Unsurprisingly, and infuriatingly, pill testing will not be among the measures discussed by the panel. At a press conference earlier today, the Premier reiterated that the NSW government does not support pill testing.
“We do not support a culture which says it is okay to take illegal drugs,” she said.
NSW Premier @GladysB: We do not support pill testing. We do not support a culture which says it is okay to take illegal drugs.
MORE: https://t.co/wn1zRDmyb6 #newsday pic.twitter.com/n3CEluJNrK
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 18, 2018
The government’s position on pill testing has been slammed over the past few days, with politicians and health professionals calling for the introduction of the service.
“The premier has the same problem as Defqon.1: thinking that a ban will make a problem go away,” Will Tregoning, the founder and director of drug harm reduction organisation Unharm, told Junkee on the weekend.
“For years, Defqon.1 told their patrons they have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for drugs. We now know that at least half the people at an event like Defqon.1 will be illegally using drugs,” Tregoning continued. “Banning things just pushes them into the shadows.”
On Sunday, the premier also announced that she never wants to see Defqon.1 held ever again.
“I never want to see this event held in Sydney or New South Wales ever again — we will do everything we can to shut this down,” she said. “Anyone who advocates pill-testing is giving the green light to drugs. There is no such thing as a safe drug and unfortunately when young people think there is, it has tragic consequences.”
A pill testing trial was held at Canberra’s Groovin’ The Moo festival earlier this year, and was widely deemed to be a success.
“We were able to identify two highly toxic substances, and a significant amount of drugs that differed from people’s expectations,” one of the people behind Groovin the Moo’s drug testing trial, Matt Noffs, told Junkee earlier this year. “They had everything, from paint, to lactose, to milk powder and toothpaste.”
Here is Australia’s first official #pilltesting service in numbers:
128 participants
85 samples tested
50% was ‘other’ (lactose, sweetener, paint)
50% was pure MDMA
2 of the samples were deadly
So, harm reduced.
We did it.— Matt Noffs (@mattnoffs) April 29, 2018
The panel is expected to provide the NSW government with their recommendations in four weeks time. In the meantime, how about give your local MP a call and talk to them about pill testing?