The NSW government will trial pill testing at music festivals from early next year. The move comes off the back of an interim report from the state's drug summits.
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00:00Essentially, the New South Wales Government will organise for about 12 festivals across
00:06the next 12 months, starting around February, to have these designated amnesty zones.
00:11It's here that people who have small amounts of illicit drugs can go and take these pills
00:16or drugs, whatever form they may come in, and get them tested for two things, purity
00:21as well as contaminants.
00:22And it's there that they can have a discussion with health professionals about the item that
00:27they've brought forth to them.
00:29Police and the New South Wales Government have been clear that they will still be enforcing,
00:34particularly for elements like supply, so people who have larger quantities are very
00:39much still susceptible to police powers.
00:41And as well, interestingly, the Labor Government hasn't really been totally clear about what
00:46search powers police will have outside of this amnesty zone within a festival.
00:50So the festival grounds may be a lot bigger and it may be that police can search people
00:55there, and of course it is still the law that it's illegal to possess the illicit drugs
00:58and prohibited substances.
01:00Furthermore to that, there's also questions around what kind of searches may take place
01:05nearby festivals, perhaps on the entrance into these festivals, as well as train stations
01:10or transport sites nearby too, for people who may well be going to take these illicit
01:14substances to be tested at these sites too.
01:17So a couple of questions remaining there.
01:19One thing we do know though as well though is that we're not likely to see this used
01:23at festivals coming up over the Christmas or New Year's period, including some very
01:27large festivals like Field Day and Lost Paradise.
01:31And Miles, we know that this came out of the drug summit that happened earlier this year.
01:36Could we be seeing any other reforms coming out of that summit?
01:40It's an interesting question, Ruby.
01:43In many ways, the New South Wales Government had walked away from some of the other reforms
01:47that have been called for by some of the health professionals who spoke at the summit, particularly
01:51around decriminalisation of drugs.
01:54That isn't something that appears to be on the New South Wales Government's agenda.
01:58Indeed, at the time of the drug summit, the Health Minister, Ryan Park, said that he didn't
02:03think his Government had a mandate yet to roll forward with such reform, and they did
02:07also hear from some speakers at the conference who warned about decriminalisation, while
02:12others were very much in support of it.
02:14So it was a kind of mixed reception that that idea, for example, got, but the Government
02:19not particularly open to that at that point.
02:22They may well, though, point to, Ruby, the funding of several diversionary programs,
02:27both for young people under 18, as well as adults, including people who are coming in
02:32and out of the prison system as well, who may be dealing with drug and alcohol addiction.
02:37Just on the matter of this pill testing trial itself, already we've heard a statement from
02:41the opposition in New South Wales saying that they are sceptical of the evidence around
02:46pill and drug testing and think that the Government really should be more focused on projecting
02:50a message that says it's not safe to take drugs in any form and educating young people
02:55away from that.
02:56So already we've seen a political division formed at least around this trial as a start.