{"id":16753,"date":"2023-10-31T18:55:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T18:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=16753"},"modified":"2024-02-13T20:38:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T20:38:59","slug":"subject-pill-testing-russian-roulette-as-drug-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2023\/10\/subject-pill-testing-russian-roulette-as-drug-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Subject: Pill Testing \u2013 Russian Roulette as Drug Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tragically, the last few months of music festivals repeatedly resembled scenes from a hospital emergency ward, witnessing this season\u2019s highest number of drug related hospitalisations and the deaths of predominately young adults ranging from 19 to 25 <\/span>years-old. <\/span>
\nIn the aftermath of these heart wrenching events, harm reduction advocates have taken to media on mass advocating for pill testing as the next risk minimisation strategy that could potentially save lives. <\/span>
\nOften, supporters are quick to highlight that pill testing is \u201cnot a silver bullet\u201d, just one measure among a plethora of strategies. But the metaphor is a false equivocation. Rather, pill testing is more like Russian Roulette. <\/span>
\nSimilar to Russian Roulette, taking psychotropic illicit drugs is a deadly, unpredictable high stakes \u2018game\u2019. It\u2019s the reason they\u2019re illegal. There is no \u2018safe\u2019 way to play. <\/span>
\nBut arguments and groups supporting pill testing construct this false perception, regardless of how strenuously advocates claim otherwise. Organisations such as STA-SAFE, Unharm, Harm Reduction Australia, the \u2018Safer Summer\u2019 campaign all exploit the context of harm and safety within an illicit drug taking culture.<\/span>
\nTo continue the metaphor of Russian Roulette, it\u2019s rather like insisting on testing a \u2018bullet\u2019 for velocity or the gun for cleanliness and handing both back. It\u2019s pointless. The bullet might not kill at first, but the odds increase exponentially after each attempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

No Standard Dose Available and the Limitations of Pill Testing<\/span>
\nIn reality, no testing of the hundreds of new psychoactive substances flooding nations <\/span>every year can make a dose safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Drug Watch International succinctly puts it, \u201cMost people have been conned into using the word \u2018overdose\u2019 regarding illicit drugs. No such thing. Why? Because it clearly implies there is a \u2018safe\u2019 dose which can be taken – and everyone knows that\u2019s a lie. The same goes for the words, \u2018use\u2019 and \u2018abuse\u2019. Those terms can only be applied to prescribed pharmaceuticals because they have a prescribed safe dose. I have asked each jurisdiction in Australia if the legal amount of alcohol when driving, up to 0.49, is considered safe for driving. All said no – they would not state that.\u201d<\/span>
\nThese substances remain prohibited because they are not manufactured to a pharmaceutical standard and are poisonous, unpredictable toxins that make it impossible to test which dose either in isolation or in a myriad of combinations proves fatal. <\/span>
\nThe limitations of pill testing4 have been discussed by Dr John Lewis (University of Technology Sydney) and prominent toxicologist Dr John Ramsey, emphasising that it is: <\/span>
\n\u2022 Complex process<\/span>
\n\u2022 Costly and time consuming<\/span>
\n\u2022 Detects mainly major components of a sample that may not be the active substance<\/span>
\nFor example, even a relatively small amount of ingredients such as Carfentanil are lethal.<\/span>
\nSpeaking after Canberra\u2019s pill trial in 2017, forensic toxicologist, Andrew Leibie, warned that pill testing trial is no \u201cmagic bullet\u201d for preventing drug deaths but also expressed deep concern surrounding the freedom for scientific debate because public sector employees feared repercussions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading harm reduction activist, Dr David Caldicott, in a 2015 interview admitted that the quality and type of pill testing would affect pill taking behaviour at festivals. When told that users potentially wouldn\u2019t get their drugs back and the lengthy 45-minute process involved, \u201c\u2018I think there\u2019ll be a lot of people who will say forget it completely.\u2019 His reasoning being that a lot of young people don\u2019t have the money to spare a pill and it would slow down the momentum of the party.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Could this be the motivation behind current trial of pill testing at Goovin\u2019 the Moo where volunteering attendees where given the choice between testing the entire pill \u2013 effectively destroying it \u2013 or scraping the contents and handing back the remainder, despite the fact that the latter approach brings even less accuracy. This is another example of drug users, not evidence informing policy procedure. <\/span>
\nThe irony of course is that many of the advocates for pill testing would object to sugary drinks, foods and caffeinated energy drinks in school cafeterias on the basis these hinder the normal development of healthy children but do not object to the infinitely direr situation facing kids at music festivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Purity vs Contaminated \u2013 Another Misleading Contrast<\/span>
\nThe fallacious arguments surrounding safe dosage remain the same irrespective of whether the substance is tested as seemingly pure. Take MDMA that goes by various street names Molly and Ecstasy. It is the most popular recreational drug in Australia and was responsible for many of the deaths at music festivals.<\/span>
\nIn 1995, 15-year old, Anna Woods, died after several hours from consuming a single pill of pure MDMA at a Rave Party. Pill testing would not have changed this outcome. Anna\u2019s case also highlights the idiosyncratic nature of drug taking in that while her three friends ingested the same tablets, Anna was the only one to have a reaction. Russian Roulette is again the most appropriate metaphor. <\/span>
\nThe Coroner\u2019s report on Anna Wood\u2019s death stated, \u201cIt is not unlikely that a tragedy such as this will occur again in N.S.W. In an effort to reduce the chance of that happening, I propose to recommend that the N.S.W. Health Department publishes a pamphlet, which will have the twofold effect of educating those who use the drug as to its dangers, and also educating the community as to the appropriate care of the <\/span>individual who becomes ill following ingestion of the drug.\u201d <\/span>
\nNearly twenty-five years later the fatalities involving MDMA keep mounting. In the only Australian study of 82 drug related deaths between 2001 to 2005, MDMA featured predominately. The fluctuating potency of this drug is further established as it is not only fifteen-year-old girls but grown men dying. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of decedents were male (83%), with a median age of 26 years. Deaths were predominantly due to drug toxicity (82%), with MDMA the sole drug causing death in 23% of cases, and combined drug toxicity in 59% of cases. The remaining deaths (18%) were primarily due to pathological events\/disease or injury, with MDMA a significant contributing condition.\u201d<\/span>
\nThe indiscriminate nature of MDMA was also witnessed with the latest fatalities at music festivals. For example, very different amounts of MDMA accounted for the five young people that died across New South Wales.<\/span>
\n\u201cIn one case, a single MDMA pill had proved lethal while another young man who ingested six to nine pills over the course of the day had an MDMA purity of 77 per cent\u2026 (That is) a very high rate of purity,\u201d Dr Dwyer said.\u201d<\/span>
\nComparable stories are found all over the world including the UK case of Stephanie Jade Shevlin that is eerily similar to Anna Woods.<\/span>
\nDrug dealers aware of the na\u00efvely misleading narrative of pure and impure illicit drugs have been caught bringing pill testing kits to concerts in a bid to convince potential buyers of quality and hike up prices.<\/span><\/p>\n

High Risk-Taking Culture<\/span><\/p>\n

The prevailing culture at music festivals is one of blissful abandon and haste. It is a no longer fringe groups at the edges of society but the mainstream choice for generations of children and young adults fully embracing the legacy of, \u201ctune in, turn on and drop out\u201d. <\/span>
\nYet despite the prevailing culture, harm reductionists insist that pill testing will better inform partygoers of drug contents and provide the necessary platform for \u2018further conversations about the drug dangers.\u2019 (All of which of course can be achieved outside a venue.)<\/span>
\nBut this is conjecture and another attempt at experimental based policy. <\/span>
\nAs cited earlier, Dr Caldicott admitted, anything that stops the party momentum experience is likely rejected. This is because when dealing with high-risk behaviour removing too many risks takes away the thrill of reward.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an age that has more educated men and women than ever before, it\u2019s not the lack of information that is driving this level of experimentation but the growing indifference to it.<\/span>
\nIn the aftermath of the death of 25-year-old pharmacist, Sylvia Choi (2015), it was discovered that security staff at the Stereosonic festival were consuming and dealing drugs.<\/span>
\nFurther, the report often cited purporting to show a growing body of research for drug users wanting pill testing actually confirms that those with college degrees were less likely than those with high school qualifications to test their pills.<\/span>
\nThis seems to be a trend in Australia also with one judge fed up with groups of \u201cwell-off pill poppers\u201d and \u201cprivileged\u201d young professionals, including nurses and bankers \u2013 filling the court.<\/span>
\nAnother article describes the attitude of drug taking among festival goers (including University students) as not so much concerned about what is on offer but demand for cheap designer drugs. <\/span>
\nThe author notes, \u201cA few deaths don\u2019t deter experimentation, and if you\u2019re going to experiment, you need to be sure you don\u2019t die.\u201d<\/span>
\nBut the determination for experimentation with different forms of self-destructive drugs is making staying alive increasingly less likely, as the levels of polydrug use is also on the rise. <\/span>
\nAccording to Global Drug Survey, \u201cOver 90% of people seeking Emergency Medical Treatment each year after MDMA have used other drugs (often cocaine or ketamine) and\/or alcohol and more frequent use of MDMA is associated with the higher rates of combined MDMA use with other stimulant drugs and ketamine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s enquiry into MDMA supports this finding, \u201cNevertheless, the fact that half of the toxicology reports noted the detection of methamphetamine in the blood is consistent with the polydrug use patterns of living MDMA users.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pill Testing Overseas Failing to Stop Drug Demand and Supply<\/span><\/p>\n

The push continues for Australia to adopt front of house or front-line pill testing at music festivals as in Europe and the UK. But not everyone is convinced of its resounding success. <\/span>
\nLast year, UK\u2019s largest festival organiser reversed its previous support for drug testing facilities. Managing director, Melvyn Benn, stating, \u201cFront of house testing sounds perfect but has the ability to mislead I fear.\u201d<\/span>
\nMr Benn details those fears, \u201cDetermining to a punter that a drug is in the \u2018normal boundaries of what a drug should be\u2019 takes no account of how many he or she will take, whether the person will mix it with other drugs or alcohol and nor does it give you any indicator of the receptiveness of a person\u2019s body to that drug.\u201d<\/span>
\nIn 2001, The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) produced its scientific report, On-Site Pill-Testing Interventions In The European Union. <\/span>
\nIncomplete evaluation procedures have hindered the availability for empirical evidence on the effectiveness of pill testing. \u201cThe conclusions one can draw from that fact remain ambiguous.\u201d<\/span>
\nPerhaps the most disturbing feature of the report is the admission that decreasing black market activity isn\u2019t within the scope of pill testing goals. \u201cOverall, to alter black markets is \u2018not a primary goal\u2019 or \u2018no goal at all\u2019 for most pill-testing projects.\u201d Within that same report drug users are classed as \u2018consumers\u2019 with an entitlement to know what their pills contain. <\/span>
\nThe report goes on to list the range of services offered alongside pill testing at venues. These include everything from: brain machines, internet consultations, needle exchange, presenting on-site results of pill-testings, chill-out zones, offering massage, giving out fruits, giving out free drinking water and giving out condoms. <\/span>
\nAnd in another twist of just how far the common sense boundaries are stretched, for number of participating nations, tax payer funded pill testing is also offered at illegal rave venues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the overwhelming lack of evidence that pill testing indeed saves lives, Australian toxicologist, Andrew Liebie\u2019s claim is not easily dismissed, \u201cthe per capita death rate from new designer drugs was higher in Europe – where pill testing was available in some countries – than in Australia.\u201d<\/span>
\nThe antipathy to drug taking was also witnessed by the Ambulance Commander at the latest pill testing trial, again in Canberra, Groovin\u2019 the Moo.<\/span><\/p>\n

No War on Drugs Just a Submission to Harm Reduction Promotion<\/span>
\nThe narrative for pill testing will at some stage mention the failed \u201cwar on drugs\u201d and by association hard line but failing law enforcement measures either explicitly or implicitly such as in the statement below. <\/span>
\n\u201cRegardless of the desirability of treating it as a criminal issue rather than a health one, policing at festivals has limited impact on drug consumption, as research presented at the Global Cities After Dark conference last year suggests: 69.6 per cent of survey respondents said they would use drugs if police were present.\u201d<\/span>
\nBut what this article completely fails to grasp is that police presence makes little impact because the law is rarely or, at best, laxly enforced and a climate of de facto decriminalisation has been the norm for decades. This was the situation with Portugal before finally decriminalising drugs for personal use in 2001.<\/span>
\nJournalists for The Weekend Australian attempting to report events at a recent dance party stated sniffer dogs did nothing to stop the \u201crampart\u201d stream of drugs. They described a scene of disarray; discarded condoms with traces of coffee grounds within toilets (believed to mask the smell of drugs), bodies strewn on the ground littered with drug paraphernalia, others were rushed to waiting ambulances, while one attendant told them \u201cI got away with it\u201d and another admitting popping two pills a night was \u201caverage\u201d. Had they been allowed to stay longer maybe more party goers would be openly stating what many know, drugs supply and demand are at all-time highs <\/span>irrespective of police presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Journalists instead were treated as criminal trespassers, threatened by security and ordered to leave under police escort.<\/span>
\nThe basis of Australia\u2019s National Drug Strategy includes harm minimisation efforts as part of an overall strategy that also supports reductions in drug supply and demand. <\/span>
\nThe inadvertent admission that pill testing is not about curbing drug demand comes from another harm reduction stalwart, Alex Wodak, \u201cIt\u2019s a supposition that this (pill testing) might increase drug use, but if it does increase drug use but decrease the number of deaths, surely that\u2019s what we should be focusing on.\u201d<\/span>
\nIn fact, Dr Wodak confirms that pill testing would incentivise drug dealers to provide a better product. \u201cThere was no commercial pressure on drug dealers to ensure their products were safe. But if we had testing and 10% of drug dealer A\u2019s supply was getting rejected at the drug testing counter, then word would get around.\u201d<\/span>
\nA similar focus on consequences rather than causes is expressed by Dr David Caldicott, \u201cI don\u2019t give a s**t about the morality or philosophy of drug use. All I care about is people staying alive.\u201d<\/span>
\nIn other words, take the pill, just don\u2019t die\u2026this time. What the long-term affects are to those drug users that survive hospitalisation, the impact on development, mental health, employment loss, families, the growing cost to taxpayers and the crushing weight on emergency services, hospitals and physicians let alone the constant appetite and entrenchment for more drugs will have to wait. Just don\u2019t die. <\/span>
\nThe ongoing dilution of law enforcement is also seen by various experts all but demanding that police and sniffer dogs be removed entirely from music festivals. No doubt to be replaced with on-site massages, electrolyte drinks, brain machinery, chill out zones, fruit and more free condoms. <\/span>
\nProf Alison Ritter from the University of NSW and Fiona Measham from the University of Durham both agree that intensive policing combined with on-site dealing \u201ccould significantly increase drug related harm.\u201d How intensive could police efforts be with such blatant on-site dealing was not explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Unrelenting Push for Drug Legalisation <\/span>
\nThe real end game behind the dubious safety and harm messaging is drug legalisation. Pill testing, minus the caveat of being called a \u2018trial\u2019, would unlikely find full approval without a corresponding change in the law. <\/span>
\nThe limitations of pill testing and the legal ramifications in giving back a tested pill that proved lethal would become a public liability minefield. <\/span>
\nThis is clearly seen from the article in the Daily Telegraph, Pill Test Death Waiver Revealed, Jan 5, \u201cThe testing capabilities are so limited that revellers would be required to sign a death waiver, which includes a warning that tests cannot accurately determine drug purity levels or give any indication of safety.\u201d <\/span>
\nLater the article reports, \u201cMr Vumbaca said he had been given extensive legal advice to include the warnings on the waiver because of the limitations of testing information … we are not a laboratory and we have one piece of equipment … the test gives you an indication of purity, but you can\u2019t tell the exact amount.\u201d<\/span>
\nThe waiver would release everyone in testing from, \u201cany liability for personal injury or death suffered … in any way from the services.\u201d<\/span>
\nScattered within the pages of countless articles on pill testing released over the last few months, this admission of pill testing tied in within a broader agenda of drug legalisation is repeatedly made but easily missed among the hype. <\/span>
\nGary Barns from the Australian Lawyers Alliance said the latest deaths could be avoided or risk of death could be minimised with a \u201claw change\u201d.<\/span>
\nSydney Criminal Lawyers are more explicit, \u201cAnd it seems clear that if adults were able to purchase quality controlled MDMA over the counter in plain packaging with the contents marked on the side, it would be far safer than buying from some backyard manufacturer with no oversight or guarantees.\u201d<\/span>
\nAnd disappointingly, even former AFP and DPP speaking on Four Corners state drug legalisation as a necessary public conversation.<\/span>
\nIt seems that these same advocates for policy and law change are willing to give a platform for the rights of those determined to self-destruct but not the rest of the law abiding community and their common good. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pill testing \u2013 The Climate Change of Drugs<\/span>
\nIf comparing pill testing as a \u2018silver bullet\u2019 was an inaccurate metaphor, then the comparison to climate change shows the extent of not only erroneous but deliberate obfuscation. \u201cThis issue of pill-testing is climate change for drugs,\u201d says Dr David <\/span>Caldicott.<\/span>
\nAnd yet the dark environment which produces the pills and wreaks so much unnecessary destruction to countless thousands of people all over the world is never fully understood or exposed to those that would blissfully take one small pill for a few hours of entertainment. <\/span>
\nBut talk of boycotting products that pollute the atmosphere, meat that is packaged from abused animals, clothing produced from exploited workers, or products genetically modified, most likely those same illicit pill takers would passionately relinquish and possibly even risk their personal safety to protest these injustices. <\/span>
\nYet, these are dwarfed by illicit drugs. The most barbaric network of human, economic and environmental exploitation. <\/span>
\nSome of the social miseries are well known, including international crime syndicates and narco-terrorism. While others such as environmental damage due to deforestation, chemical waste and the recent drug toxicity detected in Adelaide waterways are often overlooked in an age of socially conscientious consumerism.<\/span>
\nBut the list of downward consequences is always local and personal, with illicit drugs linked to preventable death, disease and poverty. In cases of domestic violence, alcohol and drugs contributed to 49 per cent of women assaulted in the preceding 12 months. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those who suffer the most are those who can least afford the consequences; the poor, young, vulnerable, indigenous and rural communities as revealed in the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission report.<\/span>
\nFaced with such overwhelming statistics pro-drug lobbyists use inevitability mantras such as, \u201cthey\u2019re doing it anyway\u201d to sway public opinion toward legalisation; but fail to apply the same arguments to other societal abuses such as paedophilia, obesity, gambling, domestic violence, alcohol or tobacco.<\/span>
\nIt is time to stop the dishonest rhetoric of harm reductionist activists and the deliberate intellectual disconnect that has greatly influenced the Australian government drug strategy and peak medical bodies toward policies emphasising reducing drug harms (injecting rooms, needle distribution, methadone and now pill testing) while minimising the need to reduce demand and supply.<\/span>
\nEleni Arapoglou<\/span>
\n\u2013 Writer and Researcher, Drug Advisory Council of Australia (DACA)<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: PillTestingDACA_PoliticianBrief05-02-19.pdf (drugfree.org.au)<\/a> February 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tragically, the last few months of music festivals repeatedly resembled scenes from a hospital emergency ward, witnessing this season\u2019s highest number of drug related hospitalisations and the deaths of predominately young adults ranging from 19 to 25 years-old. In the aftermath of these heart wrenching events, harm reduction advocates have taken to media on mass […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,15,31,68,33,90,80,43,104,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alcohol","category-australia","category-cocaine","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-ecstasy","category-global-drug-legalisation-efforts","category-ketamine","category-methamphetamine-ghb-hallucinogens-oxycodone","category-political-sector","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}