Renewed calls for pill testing after Sydney music festival death and hospitalisations

By SWAGATALAKSHMI ROYCHOWDURY

There has been renewed calls for pill testing in NSW after the hospitalisation of 12 people and the death of a 26-year old in suspected drug overdose at a Sydney techno music festival last weekend.

After the event, Commonwealth Bank associate Kieran Ngo went to Bankstown hospital at 1.30 am with issues related to a suspected drug overdose.

However, Ngo passed away, prompting a police investigation.

12 other attendees were also admitted to hospital for treatment relating to drugs, bringing up conversations around pill testing.

After the incident, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet faced questions regarding the government’s long-standing resistance to pill testing but he reiterated that it is not the way to go.

He urged young people to “stay safe” and not do drugs.

“My clear message to people right across NSW [is] stay safe, and don’t take drugs and you will be safe,” he said.

Pill testing helps people discover what they are really consuming, and whether or not the drug contains any dangerous contaminants they might be unaware of.

Pill testing was one of the recommendations in the Coronial Inquest which was handed down in 2019.

Greens MP and drug law reform spokesperson Cate Faehrmann called the government’s refusal to implement these recommendations “unacceptable.”

“This is very sad news and my heart goes out to the family of this young man,” she said, and added that Ngo’s death was “potentially avoidable.”

Greens call on Perrottet to take action

Faehrmann is calling on the Premier to implement all recommendations from the inquiry such as pill testing, banning sniffer dogs at festivals, restricting the use of strip searches, and decriminalising drugs as a matter of urgency.

“The experts all agree that heavy-handed and punitive drug laws encourage unsafe behaviour like consuming too much at once to avoid detection, and consuming pills that may contain unknown, potentially deadly substances,” she said.

In addition, there was a Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’ reported in January 2020 which recommended the decriminalising personal use and possession of recreational drugs, among others.

Statistics show that a majority of Australians do support pill testing: in a 2019 Australian Election Study survey, 63% supported it while 57% supported it in a National Drug Strategy Household Survey held in the same year.

Over 18000 people attended Transmission Music Festival on Saturday February 11 which marked the hottest temperature in Sydney since December 2021.

City Hub  reached out to Transmission event organisers for further comment.