Four more music festivals in Victoria are set to host pill testing services for the first time after its successful launch at Beyond The Valley last month.
Staffed by qualified medical professionals, these life-saving services are free to access and are anonymous, helping keep festivalgoers safe by testing the purity, potency, and any potential dangerous additives in drugs before they can be consumed.
In a statement on Thursday, the Victorian government confirmed pill testing will now be offered at four festivals between February and April. These are Hardmission Festival (8 February), Pitch Music and Arts Festival (7-11 March), Ultra Music Festival (12 April) and The Warehouse Project (25 April).
Scenes from Pitch Music and Arts Festival last year. Source: Instagram
Why’s this so important? Last festival season, a number of tragic events brought the need for pill testing to the forefront. Nine people fell critically ill at Hardmission after ingesting MDMA with a higher potency than expected and 23-year-old Antony Maugeri tragically passed away after a suspected overdose at Pitch Music and Arts.
Research from Monash University last year suggested over 60 deaths between 2000 and 2019 could have been avoided with harm minimisation strategies like pill testing.
In light of these devastating instances, Victorian Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt explained just how important pill testing services can be.
“It offers a sensible health-led approach that will save the lives of young Victorian festivalgoers,” she explained.
“The results from Beyond the Valley speak for themselves: pill testing does not encourage people to use drugs. It allows people to see what’s really in their substances and make informed health decisions.”
Over 700 people — many of whom were in their late teens or early twenties — used the inaugural pill testing service at the music festival in December, according to government figures.
But looking beyond the numbers, government data suggests the service helped provide crucial health information to festivalgoers.
“Nearly 40 per cent of patrons said they would use a smaller amount of their drugs following their discussion with a healthcare worker at the service, while one in six people intended to discard their drugs after having them tested,” the Victorian government said in a statement.
They added a significant number of festivalgoers were also keen to understand how recreational drugs could interact with mental health conditions and prescription medications, particularly antidepressants.
NSW is expected to commence a 12-month trial at music festivals in early 2025, joining the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, and Victoria to embrace the service.
It clarified the announcement is “not an endorsement of illicit drug use”, rather the trial will “help people make safer choices, will ensure they can speak to a health professional and it could save lives.”
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has broadly welcomed the move.
“To have a safe option where people can go and get their pills tested, it’s an opportunity to have a healthcare worker interaction and, if it becomes clear that there are issues for the person, to encourage them to seek help,” Dr Hester Wilson, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Addiction Medicine, told newsGP, the RACGP’s news hub.
For anyone attending a festival in the coming months, this looks like a win for safety and informed decision-making.
Lead image: FotografiaBasica and bernardbodo / Getty Images
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