Page 5455 - Week 14 - Thursday, 30 November 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Here in Australia, pill testing has the support of a range of health experts, academics, sections of law enforcement and various politicians across the political spectrum. The ACT government undertook a very detailed risk assessment of the most recent proposal to trial pill testing at Spilt Milk, which involved representatives from ACT Health, policing and other relevant areas across government. Having examined the proposal in detail, they decided to approve it on the basis that it could help prevent harm and was based on evidence.
At the recent annual reports hearings Chief Health Officer, Dr Paul Kelly, articulated the reason for the government’s decisions. He said:
… pill testing, from the health side of things at least, putting aside the legal components, is essentially harm minimisation. We do know that the majority of people who go to these types of festivals do take either drugs or alcohol. That is a fact. We do know that young people are dying at these types of festivals around Australia right now. That is a fact. We do know that, despite the best efforts of drug enforcement to decrease supply or decrease demand, we still need to have a harm minimisation component within the national drug strategy. This fits very carefully and clearly within that as a potential way forward. If we do not do anything then we will continue to get the results we currently have.
I bring this motion forward today because, despite my deep disappointment that pill testing did not go ahead at Spilt Milk, it is important to be clear that the government remains committed to a harm minimisation approach to drug policy. There will be future opportunities for a pill testing trial in the territory and we should not let those opportunities be missed.
Whether it is at music festivals, dance parties, local venues or elsewhere, pill testing represents a chance to make these events safer for the people who attend. That is why the Greens have been such strong advocates on this issue. After the shift we have seen in the past few months, I suspect that pill testing will happen in the territory. I believe it is no longer a question of if but rather when.
Unfortunately, it is clear that we will continue to face a campaign that is full of anecdote and misinformation, and that those who oppose pill testing will continue to ignore the evidence. Some opponents of pill testing have called for greater use of sniffer dogs as an alternative. This is where it is important to look at the evidence base.
A recent New South Wales government review of sniffer dogs found that police uncovered drugs in only 26 per cent of cases where the dog gave a positive indication. Let me repeat that: in three-quarters of all cases where a dog detected something, the person was not carrying any drugs at all.
At the same time, we know of two cases where young Australians died when they swallowed all of their drugs at once to avoid detection by sniffer dogs. These are the tragic and very real consequences of the sort of ill-informed drug policy being proposed by the Liberal Party, both here in this place and up on the hill.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video