Victorian police would be required to notify the state’s Department of Health of toxic batches of drugs under an amendment to the state’s public health laws proposed by the Greens.
The Greens’ changes to the public health and wellbeing amendment bill, which is set to be debated in the upper house this week, would see certain drugs, poisons and controlled substances declared as notifiable based on their potential serious risk to public health.
This would mean police officers would be required to notify the department within a specified timeframe if they encounter the substances during the performance of their duties.
The definition of “serious risk to public health” means that alcohol or illegal drugs such as heroin would not be listed as notifiable in normal circumstances despite their impact on public health.
Instead, it is likely synthetic drugs such as NBOMe would be listed, based on their involvement in mass overdose events and fatalities in Victoria in recent years.
It comes after five Victorian men, aged between 17 and 32, died in separate incidents in 2016 and 2017 after ingesting tablets that contained a dangerous combination of two psychoactive substances. Several others were also hospitalised.
The tablets were being marketed around Melbourne, including the nightclub scene, as MDMA but actually comprised 25C-NBOMe and 4-Fluoroamphetamine.
The Victorian coroner investigated the deaths and last year recommended the state government urgently implement a service to check the content and purity of illicit drugs, as well as an early warning network to alert the public to dangerous drugs in the community.
The department has been issuing specific drug alerts since 2020, but the Greens spokesperson for health, Tim Read, said the information did not come from Victoria police but from public hospitals and the Victorian Poisons Centre.
“This means whether or not a specific drug alert is issued is dependent on which agency discovers the drug, rather than the inherent public health risk of the drug. This is unacceptable,” Read said.
“The government must ensure there is a consistent approach to public health surveillance rather than an agency-by-agency policy.”
Read said the proposed amendments were a “very small piece of harm minimisation” that could have a huge impact on public health.
“We know that people continue to use drugs in large numbers despite prohibition and despite all the attempts and warning of the dangers,” he said.
“And yet, when people are given really specific and accurate information that they trust, they will throw drugs away. So ironically, the police may find it more effective to implement this policy.”
A Victoria police spokesperson said in a statement that an early warning system was a matter for the health department.
“Victoria police will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders from the state government, health and education to progress a collaborative approach to reducing the harm caused from drugs,” he said.
“Victoria police’s stance is simple: there is no such thing as a safe tablet or illicit drug. There is no way of knowing what’s in a drug and every time someone consumes an illicit substance, they are endangering their health and ultimately, risking their life.
“Police will continue to play our part in minimising harm by detecting, disrupting and arresting those people who cause significant harm in our community by trafficking drugs.”
