LEGALISING pill testing in Victoria is tough to swallow for Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad.
The Nationals MP said pill testing at music festivals would endanger the lives of young people and send “completely the wrong message about drug use”.
Ms Broad voiced opposition to the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Pill Testing) legislation in Parliament.
“This bill sends a dangerous message that drug use is acceptable, ignoring the significant risks involved,” Ms Broad said.
“Drugs are unpredictable, and pill testing may create a false sense of security for young people, leading them to believe that any substance they carry or consume is safe.”
Citing a study from Monash University, Ms Broad said that between 2000 and 2019, there were 64 drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals, most of which were unintentional and involved people in their 20s.
Ms Broad said drugs in festival settings can exacerbate dehydration and exhaustion, particularly in crowded, high-temperature environments, which can lead to tragic outcomes.
Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said no drug was ever truly safe, “but with this new legislation, Victorians can be better informed about their drug use”.
“We have made it clear since announcing this trial – these changes don’t make drugs legal, but by having pill testing services in place, we can help to keep more Victorians safe during busy summer festival seasons,” she said.
“The passing of this nation-leading legislation paves the way for our implementation trial to begin – this will allow us to explore what model works best because there’s plenty of evidence that pill testing saves lives.”
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation website said many studies around the world had found drug checking can change people’s drug-taking behaviour.
A New Zealand study found that when results of a pill test weren’t what someone had expected, 40 per cent said they wouldn’t take the drug and 31 per cent would take a lower dose than previously planned.
The first of 10 festival events in Victoria to take part in the pill-testing trial, the Beyond The Valley event which welcomes 35,000 festivalgoers, has been selected.
The new legislation also supports increased access to naloxone, the overdose reversal medicine, through 20 vending machines across Victoria by mid-next year.
