00:00Premier Jacinta Allen says the government is set to consider advice from the health
00:05department on the issue of pill testing and that could potentially lead to the introduction
00:10of pill testing trial here in Victoria.
00:13Potentially one model of the trial in Canberra that has been extended multiple times now
00:18with experts there saying has successfully seen a change in behaviour in drug users at
00:23music festivals there and that's a model that's already been replicated up in Queensland.
00:28Premier Jacinta Allen speaking at a press conference yesterday said it would ultimately
00:32be a matter for her Cabinet colleagues.
00:34There's no timeline attached to that at this stage but the Cabinet is due to meet here
00:39at Parliament House today to discuss a whole range of issues.
00:43Premier Jacinta Allen's stance on the matter is a much softer one than her predecessor
00:48Daniel Andrews categorically ruled out pill testing under his leadership despite medical
00:54experts and multiple state coroners calling on the government to introduce pill testing
00:59as a way to reduce drug related harm and potentially save lives.
01:05At the press conference yesterday Premier Allen said she doesn't want to see a repeat
01:09of the horror situation we saw this summer.
01:13There's a spike in overdoses, nine people at one music festival taken to hospital with
01:19drug related overdoses, eight of them requiring intubation and then just a week later another
01:24two people taken to hospital following suspected drug use.
01:27Premier Allen saying it's a horror situation for those people and their parents to go through
01:33and she wants to do everything she can to stop that from happening again.
01:37Of course it's not an issue without its opponents.
01:40The state opposition here in Victoria has long been opposed to the idea of pill testing.
01:45They say they'd rather see the government introduce a stronger drug alert system when
01:49there are harmful substances circulating within the state.
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