Australia News

 Debbie Warner spent an agonizing four days in an intensive care unit, fearing for her son's life. The 26-year-old had believed he was taking MDMA, the active ingredient in the popular party drug ecstasy. However, the substance he ingested turned out to be laced with a dangerous additive, leading to a life-threatening overdose.

"He had taken MDMA before without any issues. But this time, he ended up in the hospital, in the ICU," she recounted to SBS News. "Not knowing whether he would survive, and if he did, whether he would suffer from brain damage... the psychological trauma for our entire family was simply horrendous."

Her son, who thankfully survived but now battles with long-term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), expressed that he would have made use of a drug testing site if one had been available in Victoria.

In response to this pressing need, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA), supported by 77 health and community organizations, issued a statement on Monday advocating for the establishment of a drug-checking service and an early warning system in the state.

They contend that such a service is crucial to combat the rising number of drug-related fatalities resulting from unintentional consumption of new psychoactive substances (NPS).

NPS are synthetic drugs designed to mimic the effects of illicit substances like cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, and LSD, often with severe and unpredictable consequences.

Scott Drummond, program manager at VAADA, stressed that the government should create this service to save lives, echoing recommendations made four times by the Coroner's Court of Victoria in the past six years.


What Are Drug-Checking Services?

Drug-checking services encompass a combination of fixed and mobile facilities where Australians can anonymously assess their substances for both content and dosage. This process helps users identify the composition of a drug, including any unexpected substances or higher-than-usual doses, ultimately reducing the likelihood of fatal incidents.

After the test is completed, a healthcare worker would guide users through the results, providing education about the substances and harm reduction strategies should they choose to proceed.

Debbie expressed her strong support for such services, asserting that these deaths are entirely preventable.

The data collected through these services would also feed into an early warning system, alerting community members in real-time about dangerous substances circulating.

Monica Barratt, a drug policy expert at RMIT University, emphasized that real-time information on evolving drug markets would be a game-changer for preventing overdoses.

Looking to Other Parts of Australia:

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) currently operates a drug checking service, having successfully reduced harm during a trial at a Canberra music festival five years ago. An independent evaluation of the trial found that all service users who were informed that their substances contained a dangerous NPS called n-ethyl-penty lone chose to discard the drugs.

Queensland is set to become the first state to introduce a drug-checking service in 2024. This initiative will feature two confidential walk-in drug-checking sites accessible to people of all ages, including those under 18, without the risk of being reported to the police. Mobile sites will also be deployed at music festivals and sporting events, offering information on harm reduction and bins for discarding unwanted drugs.

What's Being Done Overseas?
A global assessment of harm reduction services worldwide has confirmed that drug checking services have been implemented in at least 28 countries. In 2021, New Zealand passed legislation legalizing drug-checking services after they demonstrated their ability to intercept potentially harmful substances before consumption.

Nick Wallis from Harm Reduction Victoria's DanceWize program emphasized that drug-checking sites can empower Australians to make more informed choices about their drug use, ultimately reducing harm.