In an announcement made on social media, Pill Testing Australia confirmed that they will be providing free drug-checking at the Spilt Milk festival in Canberra on Saturday.
This marks the first time that any form of pill testing has been available at a music festival in Australia since 2019, which was at Groovin’ The Moo, also in Canberra.
The year before at the same festival was the first time pill testing had ever been made available in the country.
Pill Testing Australia (PTA) shared the huge news to their Instagram, and gave thanks to their “incredibly committed team of qualified health, medical and analytical volunteers.”
Pill testing is a “relatively simple” process according to Pill Testing Australia.
“People considering using a pill or other drug can see us to have them tested to discover what it is they may really be taking,” states PTA’s website.
“As part of this process we will provide a range of information to help people make an informed decision while understanding the risks and what to do in the event of any adverse outcomes.”
The people providing the free service will not say that a drug is safe to take, but will advise a festival goer what is in their pill.
We’ve done a full breakdown on the process of pill testing, which you can read here.
Calls for pill testing services at music events have increased this year after two people died due to drug-related causes at music festivals in Sydney. However the government stuck to its guns and has not allowed pill testing at future events, despite urges to reconsider from the public.
The reason for the four year hiatus on drug-checking at Canberra festivals is not because of policies banning the practice, but is due to the fact that Pill Testing Australia had its harm-minimisation insurance quoted at an increase of over 2,200 per cent, with the premium jumping from $10K to $220K.
Pill Testing Australia state that in order to operate they rely on donations from the public, and have been unable to operate for four years without enough money to cover safety costs.
At Spilt Milk this year will be Post Malone, Dom Dolla, Cub Sport, Peach PRC, Ruel, The Dreggs, and more.
PTA clarify on their site that as part of their process they never promote the consumption of drugs, nor say it is safe to do them.
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