NSW’s First Pill Testing Trial At Yours And Owls ‘Really Positive’

New South Wales’ first pill testing trial took place over the weekend at Wollongong’s Yours and Owls Festival, with Health Minister Ryan Park labelling the operation as “really positive”.

The trial was also the first pill testing service in Australia to be conducted by the government, with previous testing in other states being offered by non-governmental agencies.

NSW Health ran free testing over the two day festival, with patrons having the chance to test their drugs for purity, potency, and adulterants.

Of the nearly 30,000 festival attendees, 103 individuals visited the service, with 80 drug samples being tested. Ten per cent of the drugs tested were either not what people thought they’d bought, or generated inconclusive results. The three most common drugs detected were MDMA, ketamine, and cocaine.

In an interview with 2GB on Monday, Park said although initial feedback on the trial had been successful, he didn’t “want to get ahead of ourselves”.

“If it’s helped one person, then to be honest it’s probably a success from my perspective,” Park said.

No drug warnings or incidents of drug related harm were reported to NSW Health, and a small number of samples were discarded in the amnesty bin after intervention from health workers.

Over-policing may have impacted efficacy of trials

The trials didn’t have any affect on police presence, with NSW Police performing a high-visibility operation, targeting drug use, alcohol related-violence, and other anti-social behaviour.

Police detected drugs 51 times, largely MDMA, and issued 28 caution notices for cannabis.

23 people with charged with drug possession, and six patrons were ejected from the festival.

President of Harm Reduction Australia, Gino Vunmaca, told Newswire that the over-emphasis of police activity may have made some festival attendees anxious about utilising the service.

“Some of the statements made by the government prior to it, just highlighting there will be sniffer dogs and police will be there, and it’s illegal to carry drugs, but come and use our pill testing service, probably didn’t help, or engender a lot of confidence,” he said.

“Government agencies include the police and we’re talking about people using illicit substances.

“There’s a level of trust about government and non-government.”

Although police didn’t patrol around the drug testing site, they were heavily present, employing sniffer dogs at the main entrance.

“NSW Health and NSW Police have worked closely and will continue to work closely with festival organisers and other stakeholders to ensure safe and effective implementation of the trial at future events,” said Park in a statement.

“The trial will operate alongside other harm reduction and medical services at the participating festivals.

“I’m very grateful for all the staff at the Yours and Owls festival, the DanceWize peers and NSW Health staff who helped to deliver this important intervention, providing vital health advice and looking out for all the festival goers.”