Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a radical new trial of “pill testing” to try to reduce overdose deaths at festivals and events, while insisting the policy does not equate to legalization of drugs. drugs.
In a video posted to social media on Monday night, Allan, a mother of two young children, said she believed the trial would help young people make better, safer decisions while attending large events.
“They want a medical professional who can tell them exactly what (the pill) is and what exactly it does,” he said.
‘No judgments, just facts. Honest, open, health-focused conversations. This is how we change the behavior of young people and even reduce drug use.
‘And that’s what pill testing is all about. It doesn’t legalize the pills, but it keeps people safe.
‘It exists all over the world and the evidence says it works. This is a simple, common sense way to save lives.
“That’s why we’re going to try it in Victoria this summer.”
Police sniffer dogs are seen patrolling the entrance to a music festival in Melbourne earlier this year.
The prime minister suggested the radical policy had been inspired by a rise in overdoses at music festivals across the state, and said paramedics had responded to more overdoses in the first three months of 2024 than in all of 2023.
“Let’s be clear: No medication is truly safe,” he said.
“But people deserve to know if that pill will kill, and if someone asks for that information and we have the power to give it to them, why wouldn’t we?”
He said he would provide more details about the trial this week, including what “protections” his government will put in place.
The announcement moves Allan away from the policies of his predecessor Dan Andrews, who rejected pill testing trials during his time in power.
Victoria now joins Queensland and the ACT with pill testing measures in place.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a radical new “pill testing” trial to try to reduce overdose deaths at festivals.
The announcement comes a day after 60 Minutes revealed a deadly new drug is infiltrating Australia’s party scene.
Nitazenes, a deadly type of painkiller that can be a thousand times stronger than morphine, are being shipped en masse to Western countries from Chinese laboratories and ending up in the hands of vulnerable Australians.
Twenty nitazene-related deaths have already been reported in Australia, in addition to dozens of overdoses.
Health authorities have issued multiple alerts about the dangerous substance, with one from NSW Health in November linking one death to nitacenes found in black market vaping juice, which is used to refill vape pens.
Australian mother Claire Rocha lost her son Dylan to nitacenes three years ago, after he took drugs laced with nitacenes while in England.
In statements to the program, Rocha revealed the pain that overcomes her after the death of her 21-year-old young man.
“So I went upstairs and he was passed out in bed and he was turning blue,” Mrs. Rocha said.
‘But it was too late. He was already gone.
And the paramedic came out and said, “I’m so sorry. We’ve done everything we can. Dylan really passed away.”
‘He made some very questionable decisions and choices. But at the end of the day, he thought it was safe to take what he took, he had taken that amount before, he thought it would be fine.
And it wasn’t.
