NSW government will hold 12 month pill testing trail from early 2025

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The NSW government will trial pill testing at music festivals from early next year. The move comes off the back of an interim report from the state's drug summits.

Transcript

00:00Essentially, the New South Wales Government will organise for about 12 festivals across

00:06the next 12 months, starting around February, to have these designated amnesty zones.

00:11It's here that people who have small amounts of illicit drugs can go and take these pills

00:16or drugs, whatever form they may come in, and get them tested for two things, purity

00:21as well as contaminants.

00:22And it's there that they can have a discussion with health professionals about the item that

00:27they've brought forth to them.

00:29Police and the New South Wales Government have been clear that they will still be enforcing,

00:34particularly for elements like supply, so people who have larger quantities are very

00:39much still susceptible to police powers.

00:41And as well, interestingly, the Labor Government hasn't really been totally clear about what

00:46search powers police will have outside of this amnesty zone within a festival.

00:50So the festival grounds may be a lot bigger and it may be that police can search people

00:55there, and of course it is still the law that it's illegal to possess the illicit drugs

00:58and prohibited substances.

01:00Furthermore to that, there's also questions around what kind of searches may take place

01:05nearby festivals, perhaps on the entrance into these festivals, as well as train stations

01:10or transport sites nearby too, for people who may well be going to take these illicit

01:14substances to be tested at these sites too.

01:17So a couple of questions remaining there.

01:19One thing we do know though as well though is that we're not likely to see this used

01:23at festivals coming up over the Christmas or New Year's period, including some very

01:27large festivals like Field Day and Lost Paradise.

01:31And Miles, we know that this came out of the drug summit that happened earlier this year.

01:36Could we be seeing any other reforms coming out of that summit?

01:40It's an interesting question, Ruby.

01:43In many ways, the New South Wales Government had walked away from some of the other reforms

01:47that have been called for by some of the health professionals who spoke at the summit, particularly

01:51around decriminalisation of drugs.

01:54That isn't something that appears to be on the New South Wales Government's agenda.

01:58Indeed, at the time of the drug summit, the Health Minister, Ryan Park, said that he didn't

02:03think his Government had a mandate yet to roll forward with such reform, and they did

02:07also hear from some speakers at the conference who warned about decriminalisation, while

02:12others were very much in support of it.

02:14So it was a kind of mixed reception that that idea, for example, got, but the Government

02:19not particularly open to that at that point.

02:22They may well, though, point to, Ruby, the funding of several diversionary programs,

02:27both for young people under 18, as well as adults, including people who are coming in

02:32and out of the prison system as well, who may be dealing with drug and alcohol addiction.

02:37Just on the matter of this pill testing trial itself, already we've heard a statement from

02:41the opposition in New South Wales saying that they are sceptical of the evidence around

02:46pill and drug testing and think that the Government really should be more focused on projecting

02:50a message that says it's not safe to take drugs in any form and educating young people

02:55away from that.

02:56So already we've seen a political division formed at least around this trial as a start.

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