00:00Emily Cooper has lost too many loved ones to drug overdoses, including 12 women she met in prison, all of them dying soon after leaving.
00:12Aunty Sharon, Yasmin, Sarah, Rowan...
00:16Nine were mothers, many overdosed within days of release.
00:20I feel a deep sense of injustice. I feel angry. These women were not acknowledged.
00:28The latest data shows 310 people died from unintentional drug overdoses in Queensland in 2023. That's higher than the road toll.
00:40Drug and alcohol support experts alongside Labor and Greens politicians are marking Overdose Awareness Day. The key message? Deaths are preventable.
00:51We have the tools and we have the mechanisms. We just need the will to be able to implement it.
00:56Drug checking is one tool to save lives. Queensland's two testing sites closed in April after the LNP government refused to provide ongoing funding. Now a philanthropist is stepping in.
01:12The Brisbane service at Bowen Hills will reopen next week.
01:16We know that drug checking can reduce overdose, it can prevent deaths, it can reduce hospitalisations and keeps the whole community safe.
01:24Harm minimisation advocates say State Parliament has a duty to choose evidence and compassion over ideology when it comes to drug overdoses.
01:34The Christopher Foley Government have failed to fund pill testing as a public system and I think that is incredibly regrettable.
01:41It's just a staggering disappointment that the State Government won't step in and provide financial support for a service that we know saves lives.
01:49A spokesperson for the Health Minister says the Government does not support pill testing and will ensure its policy position is strictly maintained and enforced.
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