Groovin The Moo Canberra will host its second annual pill-testing trial after the ACT Government gave the move a big thumbs up.
As the ABC reports, the Nat Cap’s leg of the regional festie will host the Pill Testing Australia team once again on April 28th, trialling the drug harm reduction strategy one year on from nation’s first ever test run at the same event, which ICYMI was hailed a huge success.
While the landmark trial came back with some disturbing details about some of the 83 drugs tested, the upshot of those results was that many of the punters who owned the bad drugs decided to bin them rather than risk their lives.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says his government made the decision to rubber-stamp the trial following a horror summer that’s seen five young people lose their lives at music festivals across NSW.
“In light of the experience in other jurisdictions over the summer with some quite-serious medical issues arising, there will be some additional harm minimisation measures put in place,” he tells the ABC.
Elsewhere, the country’s major festivals have joined together to call for pill-testing, as has the peak body for Aussie doctors, not to mention thousands of punters who recently signed a pill-testing petition and took to the streets for a rally to demand government action on the issue.
But the NSW Government has continually refused to back it, opting to declare war on the state’s music festivals instead.
Thousands will take part in Sydney’s ‘Don’t Kill Live Music’ rally this Thursday night.
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.https://t.co/nZ5yGdytyS
— Andrew Barr MLA (@ABarrMLA) February 18, 2019
