An Aussie Festival Is Getting Australia’s Second Ever Pill Testing Trial
"By making this service available at music festivals there is the potential to save lives."
After it was unclear whether it would go ahead, it’s now confirmed that the Canberra leg of Groovin The Moo will hold a second pill-testing trial this year.
Last night, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced the pill-testing trial will go ahead at the festival on April 28, following a trial at last year’s festival — the first of its kind in Australia. This trial will be held by Pill Testing Australia.
“Governments have a responsibility to not only try and prevent drug use but also to support initiatives that reduce the harms associated with drug use,” he said in a statement (via 10 Daily).
“Pill testing does not make taking illicit drugs safe and our message to the community will always be, don’t take drugs…. However, pill testing provides a health intervention at the point when someone is making the decision to take a pill. By making this service available at music festivals there is the potential to save lives.”
Despite last year’s pill-testing trial being deemed a success — with two of the 85 samples testing containing lethal substances, which were then discarded — it was unclear whether Groovin The Moo would be able to hold another this year when it was announced the festival would have to move venue.
Previously, the festival was held at the University Of Canberra, which was state-owned land, meaning the pill-testing trial did not requite Commonwealth approval. The new venue, Exhibition Park, is also state-owned.
Last year, the Commonwealth Government blocked Spilt Milk’s attempt to hold a pill-testing trial, which is held on federally-owned land.
The news comes amid the NSW Government’s continual refusal to consider pill-testing in wake of five overdoses at music festivals since last August. This is despite growing public support for pill-testing, pleas from families of those who have overdosed at festivals, and widespread medical support.
Last week, Premier Gladys Berejikian instead proposed (then rolled back) new ‘risk assessment’ measures for events which were widely criticised for being unfairly weighted against music festivals.
The proposal arrived shortly after NSW music festivals Psyfari and Mountain Sounds cancelled days before they were due to start, citing exuberant government-and-police costs.
Don’t Kill Live Music, a coalition of music industry figures, has created an open petition here regarding the NSW government’s ‘war on music’. A rally has also been called for Thursday 21 February, 6pm at Sydney’s Hyde Park.
Photo by James Simpson, via Groovin The Moo Facebook