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Part of many proposed pill testing
regimes is an ‘amnesty bin’ where
punters can dispose of bad pills.
Caldicott said information about bad
drugs would ‘spread virally,’ with
alerts about very harmful drugs sent out
to festival-goers by SMS and posted on
big screens around the venue. Police
have broadcasted similar warnings in
the past, advising against red Superman
pills in Queensland in February and –
after the death of Stefan Woodward at
the Adelaide Stereosonic festival –
warning of orange pills with dollar
signs which they said ‘may be related’
to Woodward’s death.
What are the legal
considerations?
pponents of pill testing have
claimed the medical staff testing
substances could open themselves up to
drug possession charges, as well as
citing duty of care risks over giving
advice on pills that lead to a death or
serious injury. Other arguments include
police simply searching festival-goers
in line for drug testing and finding
illicit substances in their possession.
Frank Hansen, a former sergeant in the
NSW Police drug squad, told HuffPost
Australia that – in NSW at least – a pill
testing program could come in with
little legal ramifications and require no
new legislation, only needing a
modicum of discretion from police. He
would know; Hansen was on the force
when NSW introduced its needle
exchange program.
‘[Pill testing] can be accommodated
but it’s down to discretion. We
currently have cannabis cautioning,
discretion around the needle and
syringe program. When they brought
that in, we were asking police to
accommodate a public health program
and provide some latitude for people in
possession of a syringe or going to or
from a needle exchange program,’ he
said.
‘In 1985 around the needle program,
the commissioner said to us ‘this is the
policy on this program.’ It gave police
very clear directions and parameters of
that discretion.’
Hansen said issues around drug charges
for pill testers, as well as allowing
potential drug users to line up and have
their pills checked without worrying
about being targeted by police as they
waited, could be overcome with
directives from police management; but
said that, like the supervised injecting
room in King’s Cross, a pill testing
program would be better supported by
specific legislation mandating its
legality.
‘Once you’ve got those things in place,
that’s what police are there to do – to
protect life and people. Part of that
process might be a better mechanism
[of testing],’ he said.
‘They would probably need to bring
some law in for the testers, there is
some public liability stuff there.’
O