Pill testing at festivals has been a divisive topic over recent years, so what’s the hold-up?

As WA’s music festival season fast approaches, discussions around whether pill testing is a step towards harm reduction or a green flag for increased drug use are at the forefront of debate.

Pill testing, also known as drug checking, involves the chemical analysis of pills, powders and other substances. According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation of Australia, it is a harm reduction strategy that allows individuals to test recreational drugs for the presence of potentially harmful substances.

Research conducted by Monash University using the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), revealed that between 2000 and 2019, at least 64 festival-related deaths were due to drug overdoses.

In an effort to reduce drug-related deaths and hospitalisations associated with unregulated drug use, pill testing has been trialled at festivals across the country, with Canberra first trialling the service at Groovin the Moo festival in 2018 and 2019.

Australian National University associate professor Anna Olsen led the evaluation of Canberra’s 2019 pill testing trial. Dr Olsen said that for the majority of drug users, the festival-based drug testing station was their first opportunity to discuss their drug use history and intentions with a qualified professional.

“What drug checking does is bring some knowledge to people who are buying substances from a market where they’re not necessarily able to know what’s in that substance,” said Dr Olsen.

“People are bringing in substances where there is something in there they didn’t know about or didn’t realise, so being able to provide that information to people is really important.”

Results from the 2019 Groovin the Moo evaluation found 234 patrons used the service and 171 samples were tested. It revealed seven samples containing a dangerous substance called n-ethylpentylone. All individuals informed of this risk chose to discard their drugs.

Critics of pill testing argue that the service condones illicit behaviour, normalises drug use, and sends mixed messages about the legality of drug possession.

Additionally, concerns about the cost of implementing these services are central to the debate. Pill Testing Australia’s executive officer, Stephanie Tzanetis, thinks otherwise.

She said: “What I think people sometimes miss with harm reduction services is that you are saving money in terms of lives lost, you are saving money in terms of ambulance trips to the hospital, and you are saving money in terms of hours in ICU.

“With these kinds of harm reduction services, there is evidence to show that for every dollar you invest in them, you save at least four dollars in terms of the burden on public health.”

Despite these benefits, the Cook Government remains opposed. A spokesperson confirmed, “The Cook Government has no plans to introduce pill testing in Western Australia at this time, however, we continue to monitor emerging pill-testing research.”

With tens of thousands of West Australians expected to attend festivals such as Listen Out, Spilt Milk and Wildlands over the 2024 and 2025 summer season, there is growing concern from various sectors of the community, including public health and safety advocates, medical and health professionals, festival organisers, parents, and festival-goers themselves that the WA government is not doing enough to improve public safety at these events.