Page 1779 - Week 05 - Thursday, 10 May 2018
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(b) subsequent decision of the Government to allow the first pill testing trial in the southern hemisphere to take place; and
(c) significant effort invested by many stakeholders to ensure the trial went ahead safely, including the STA-SAFE consortium, ACT Health, ACT Policing, the ACT Ambulance Service and Cattleyard Promotions, and congratulates all involved for a successful trial; and
(3) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue to take an evidence-based harm minimisation approach to drug policy; and
(b) support other opportunities to implement harm minimisation approaches including further pill testing services in the ACT.
I am pleased to rise today to discuss the recent successful trial of pill testing in the ACT and put my thanks on record to the many stakeholders involved in ensuring this nation-leading trial went ahead. Since the ACT Greens included a commitment to a pill testing trial in our 2016 election policies, we have been on a roller-coaster ride of approval processes with both territory and commonwealth government agencies, key stakeholder organisations and festival promoters.
After a huge effort from all involved, I am delighted to be able to say that on 29 April 2018 the nation’s first official and approved pill testing trial went ahead at the Groovin the Moo music festival here in Canberra. While a full evaluation of the trial is still being finalised, the preliminary results confirm what we expected: that pill testing helps reduce harm by preventing the consumption of dangerous substances. We know that the service at Groovin the Moo provided valuable information to young people, health services and police, with almost 130 people accessing the service and 85 samples being tested.
We also know that the pill testing service identified two substances that could have had potentially fatal consequences if consumed. As the motion notes, one was believed to be a novel NBOMe with psycho-stimulant and hallucinogenic properties that can cause convulsions and coma. This is the same class of drug that is believed to be responsible for three deaths and around 20 hospitalisations in Victoria in early 2017 as well as a spate of hospitalisations on the Gold Coast in 2016.
The other substance was n-ethylpentylone, a cathinone implicated in adverse outcomes overseas, including the hospitalisation of 13 people in New Zealand earlier this year. Physical effects can include raised pulse and blood pressure, high body temperature and convulsions, as well as psychological effects such as paranoia and temporary psychosis.
It is also important to note that neither of these substances had been seen in the ACT previously and that the pill testing service was able to alert both ACT Policing and the ACT Ambulance Service to this to help inform their responses. The Chief Health Officer was also notified so that health services across the territory could be prepared in case someone presented outside the festival with the corresponding symptoms.
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