Pill testing to be trialled in Victoria

The Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan has announced that pill testing will be trialled in Victoria this summer.

Transcript

00:00As parents, my husband and I are always thinking about our kids,

00:03growing up and making their own decisions.

00:06In a few years, they'll be heading off to parties, to music festivals.

00:11And like all parents, I often catch myself thinking,

00:14what if the worst happens?

00:16What if one of them doesn't make it home?

00:20And that's every parent's worst nightmare.

00:22And more parents are living it.

00:25Our paramedics responded to more drug overdoses

00:28at festivals in the first three months of this year

00:31than during all of last year.

00:33And I've been speaking to other parents about this too.

00:36One of them put it simply,

00:38young people are smart and they want information.

00:41Their kids get handed a pill at a festival,

00:44they want a medical professional

00:46who can tell them exactly what it is and exactly what it does

00:50without telling them it's safe.

00:52No judgment, just facts.

00:55Honest, open, health-focused conversations.

00:59That's how we change young people's behaviour

01:02and even reduce drug use.

01:04And that's all pill testing is about.

01:07It doesn't make pills legal, but it does keep people safe.

01:11It exists around the world and the evidence says it works.

01:15This is a simple and common sense way to save lives.

01:20That's why we're going to trial it in Victoria this summer.

01:24I'll have more to say this week about how it will work

01:27and the protections we'll put in place.

01:30It's time to give our smart young people the right information.

01:34And let's be clear, no drug is ever truly safe,

01:38but people deserve to know if that one pill will kill.

01:43And if someone's asking for that information

01:45and we have the power to give it to them,

01:48then why on earth wouldn't we?