Pill Testing Probably Won’t Happen In NSW Any Time Soon Because Of This Idiot
"We are not using taxpayers’ funds to provide a quality-assurance model for drug dealers."
While some politicians have been getting on board with pill testing after the successful trial at Canberra’s Groovin The Moo festival on the weekend, it looks like other key decision-makers haven’t got the message just yet.
NSW Police Minister Troy Grant — who has long been fierce opponent of pill testing — told Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine yesterday that in “no way” would the service be implemented while his government is in power.
“I’m a thousand percent against it — no way the NSW Government will be adopting pill-testing,” he told Devine. “We are not using taxpayers’ funds or dedicating any resources to provide a quality-assurance model for drug dealers.”
“It’s a false hope, it’s a dangerous scenario,” he added. “The only way to avoid deaths by taking drugs, is not to take the drug.”
His comments are in contrast to those from a number of politicians who have openly supported the service following the GTM trial.
“How many funerals do we have to go to of people that have taken these substances and found out they’re not what they’re sold?” Liberal backbencher Warren Entsch told ABC Radio earlier this week.
“If we are going to get serious about harm minimisation, then pill testing at a health facility at a music festival must be an option,” Labor Senator Lisa Singh also told ABC Radio. “Pill testing needs to be part of a suite of harm minimisation measures offered.”
Grant’s opposition to pill testing is nothing new — in 2016 he even suggested that pill testing advocates could be charged with manslaughter if they went ahead with trials at festivals.
128 people took part in the pill testing trial at Groovin The Moo, with a total of 85 samples being tested. Of those 85 samples, 50 percent contained substances other than what punters expected, including toothpaste and paint, and two of the samples contained potentially deadly substances.
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 reality is that taking these steps will save the young people’s lives,” Greens senator Jordon Steele-John told Junkee. “If we hadn’t have had this pill-testing trial at GTM over the weekend then it’s likely we would now be mourning the avoidable deaths of two young people who have ingested deadly substances.”