Latest news with #pilltesting
Daily Telegraph
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Telegraph
Australia's first fixed pill testing site is opening in Melbourne
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News. The lifesaving service is expected to reduce pressure on frontline services. After successful trials at music festivals across the state, Melbourne is getting its first permanent pill testing site. Open Thursdays to Sundays from August in the inner-north suburb of Fitzroy from August, the facility is close to nightlife, public transport, community health and social services. According to the Victoria's Department of Health, about half of Australian adults have used drugs at some point in their lives, and there has been an increase in emergency department admissions relating to use and overdose deaths involving novel synthetic drugs. Run by Youth Support and Advocacy Service, The Loop Australia, and Harm Reduction Victoria, the government said the site will provide a free, lifesaving service. The results of pill testing globally Pill testing has been proven not to encourage people to use drugs, but to provide education and information about what people are actually taking, so they can make safer, more informed decisions. Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said, "No drug is safe, but with testing and open, health-focused conversations, we are helping Victorians make more informed and safer choices". 65 per cent of service users spoke to a health professional about drug and alcohol safety and harm reduction for the first time. Image: Pexels "Our pill testing trial has already shown young people want the information that could keep them safe and now we'll support even more Victorians with our fixed site service in Fitzroy." During the service's trial period, almost 1400 samples were tested at five different festivals. 65 per cent of service users spoke to a health professional about drug and alcohol safety and harm reduction for the first time, and more than 30 per cent said they would take smaller amounts after these discussions. And in the UK, police and medical services at a festival said pill testing contributed to a 95 per cent decrease in drug-related hospital admissions. Image: iStock At a separate pill testing clinic in Canberra, one in 10 samples were discarded on-site once the service user learned what was in them. One third of people whose sample contained a different or additional drug from what they expected, or where results were inconclusive, said they 'definitely will not use' the illicit drug. And in the UK, police and medical services at a festival said pill testing contributed to a 95 per cent decrease in drug-related hospital admissions. Detection of lethal contaminants. Image: Unsplash Detection of lethal contaminants Despite Australia not experiencing the same level of fentanyl crisis as the US, the Australian Federal Police has made significant seizures of the opioid in the last three years, suggesting it may be cut into recreational drugs. Experts are also concerned about the growing presence of nitazenes in Australian wastewater. Canberra's CANTEST service identified a new variant with a high risk of overdose last year, which is 'one of the most potent drugs of its class ever detected.' The government said these drugs can be detected early and rapidly assessed through testing. The Fitzroy facility is staffed by chemists who analyse samples of substances, while trained harm reduction workers deliver test results and discuss possible risks. Image: Getty While still dangerous, being informed about the contents of their samples can help reduce the risk of overdose for service users. The Fitzroy facility is staffed by chemists who analyse samples of substances, while trained harm reduction workers deliver test results and discuss possible risks, service users' existing health conditions and potential interactions between drugs and prescription medications. In addition to saving lives and reducing drug harm, the service is hoped to decrease pressure on frontline services. Originally published as Australia's first fixed pill testing site is opening in Melbourne
ABC News
5 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Permanent pill testing site announced for Fitzroy after successful music festival trials
The Victorian government has announced the location of the state's first permanent pill testing centre. The facility will open in August at 95 Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, in Melbourne's inner-north, from Thursdays to Saturdays. It will be run by the same consortium running mobile testing — Youth Support and Advocacy Service, The Loop Australia, and Harm Reduction Victoria. It follows a successful mobile pill testing trial at five Victorian music festivals over summer and is part of a $4 million implementation trial. The government said the Fitzroy location was close to popular nightlife hubs, public transport and health care and social services. It said the facility would allow for the early detection and rapid assessment of new synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and nitazenes, and would provide a free, lifesaving service. The medical support and social services would be provided by Melbourne Health and Youth Projects, while the University of Melbourne's Metabolomics Australia would run secondary testing to confirm the results of the substances. "No drug is safe, but with testing and open, health-focused conversations, we are helping Victorians make more informed and safer choices," Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said. "Our pill testing trial has already shown young people want the information that could keep them safe and now we'll support even more Victorians with our fixed site service in Fitzroy." The music festival testing saw 1,400 samples tested, with MDMA, ketamine and cocaine the main drugs detected. The government said 11 per cent of samples ended up not being what people had expected their drugs to be. It said 65 per cent of mobile testing users reported having their first harm reduction conversation with a health professional and almost a third said they would take a smaller amount as a result. Of those using the service, 91 per cent were aged between 18 to 30 years old. "Our pill testing trial has already shown young people want the information that could keep them safe," Ms Stitt said. She said the permanent facility would allow for the support of more Victorians.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Queensland government may not release taxpayer-funded drug testing review after axing service
The Queensland government is refusing to say if it will publicly release an independent taxpayer-funded evaluation of the state's now-axed drug checking sites. The former Labor administration commissioned the University of Queensland (UQ) to assess the services, including whether they reduced harm and contributed to early warnings about the circulation of dangerous illicit substances. Documents show the evaluation, which was due to be handed to the government late last week, cost taxpayers $453,286. Drug checking services allow individuals to submit small samples of substances, meant for personal use, for testing by health professionals. In April this year the CheQpoint testing sites in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast closed their doors after the LNP opted not to provide ongoing government funding. Mobile drug checking at future schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast has also been scrapped. Despite other states recently starting drug checking services, the Queensland premier and health minister have repeatedly said they do not support the measure. Last week a spokesperson for health minister Tim Nicholls said the UQ evaluation report "will be considered by Cabinet", which could mean it is kept confidential. When asked yesterday if the report would be released, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said he had not seen it and the government's views on pill testing "haven't changed". "I should have a read of it for sure, but I make the point that our policy position won't change," Mr Crisafulli said. The Loop Australia is a not-for-profit group of chemists and health workers involved in delivering the services. Its chief executive Cameron Francis called on the government to release the report, and said a similar evaluation of Canberra's drug checking service was made public. He said the report would "show the community" the benefits of drug testing. "I know what some of the data in the report would contain, because it is the data that our service has provided to the evaluators," he said. "We know that around one in four people that come through the service will use less drugs after talking to one of our staff members, we know that we refer large numbers of people into ongoing support or treatment." Queensland Opposition Leader Steven Miles said Mr Crisafulli should listen to the health experts who say pill testing saves lives. "They're calling for this report to be released," Mr Miles said. "But he won't listen because he's caved into the far-right ideologies of his party — now Queenslanders are paying the price." Queensland's pill testing closures came as deadly synthetic opioids called nitazines continued to circulate in Australia causing overdoses and deaths. Mr Francis said evidence showed testing improved public safety. "Without drug checking we've got no way of warning the community about the dangerous drugs that are circulating until people have either overdosed, ended up in hospital or passed away," he said. Australia's first fixed-site drug checking service opened in Canberra in mid-2022. Victoria started pill testing at music festivals late last year and plans to open a clinic in mid-2025. New South Wales has also kicked off a 12-month drug checking trial at some music festivals. Medical groups and harm minimisation experts have slammed the Queensland government's closure of drug checking services. In April, Queensland Chair of the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP), Dr Cathryn Hester, said the state did not have overdose monitoring or early warning systems. "I fear that once these drug testing services end, we will see more overdoses because the people taking them, including young people with their whole lives ahead of them, simply don't know what they're ingesting," Dr Hester said.
