Page 1784 - Week 05 - Thursday, 10 May 2018
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Former New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions and an adjunct professor at the Sydney Institute of Criminology, Nicholas Cowdery, has said that if police enforce laws correctly, any illegal drug user or tester is liable to arrest and prosecution. The simple fact is anyone possessing or supplying a prohibited drug for pill testing purposes or otherwise commits a criminal offence.
The fact is that possession of these substances is illegal in this territory, not to mention the liability issues that arise should a tragedy occur on site. The trial was conducted on a “look the other way” basis by police. That is in my view a reckless way to conduct business. Based on the legal opinion that I have seen, it is unlawful and I have no confidence that what is being conducted is legal.
There is a myth being perpetrated a bit—I see it on Twitter and social media and I hear it in the rhetoric from those opposite—that somehow the Canberra Liberals are out of touch on this issue and are somehow on the fringes of the debate. However, that is the opposite of what is occurring. Canberra is the only jurisdiction to allow pill testing to occur. Every other government, state or federal, remains opposed. The Labor Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, recently repeated his position and said that these drugs cannot be consumed at a safe level and that Victoria will not be putting in place a pill testing regime. He has previously said:
There is no safe level at which these substances can be taken … We are not having pill testing in this state, not under a government I lead anyway.
I make the point that it is the ACT Labor and Greens coalition that is out of step. These drugs have been made illegal for a good reason—they are not and never have been safe. The American National Institute of Drug Abuse states that the use of even moderate doses of MDMA in crowded, warm environments or during periods of vigorous, extended physical activity can dramatically increase body temperature, with potential deadly consequences. The National Centre for Biotechnology Information describes the effects of MDMA stating that clinical studies on humans and animals reveal that exposure to MDMA alone or in combination with other drugs causes damage to the heart, brain, liver and kidneys and that these abnormalities may potentially lead to death.
This and like substances have been outlawed across the world for good reason. Pill testing sends the exact opposite message to vulnerable young people being pressured into taking illegal substances like MDMA by their peers and by drug dealers. We are sending the wrong message by doing this that drugs are safe. Again I quote toxicologist Andrew Liebie, who said:
... the whole concept is based on the false assumption that if you do know what you're taking, it is safe ... that is absolutely untrue ... MDMA is not a safe drug and many of the deaths that have occurred across Europe this year have actually been due to MDMA ...
Proof that drug testing sends the wrong message is made crystal clear by the responses of unsuspecting festival goers who clearly think that testing will make these drugs safe. Following the pill testing at Groovin the Moo Canberra, ABC Central
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