Pill testing not supported

The tragic death of a young man who attended Beyond the Valley at Lardner Park over the new year led to calls for the introduction of pill testing at music festivals.

But, Baw Baw police services inspector Alison Crombie last week reinforced Victoria Police’s opposition to pill testing and said police would not support it at future events at Lardner Park.

Insp Crombie sent a strong message to festival goers before the festival, urging patrons not to take any form of drug – “it’s not worth risking your life.”

“We continue to run these operations at festivals year in and year out, but unfortunately for some, the message just isn’t getting through,” she said.

Insp Crombie said Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton had taken a strong stand on pill testing.

“Vic Pol is opposed to drug testing at festivals. It’s a matter for the government ultimately.

“We don’t know what are in pills when people take them. We don’t know how a single person will react to a pill, even if it’s been found ‘so called’ safe. We don’t know how that will metabolise in that person’s system, what other factors are in play, how they will relate to it, and also we know that most overdoses occur through poly drug taking – those who are using multiple drugs.

“So simply saying one drug’s safe while they’re using other drugs at the same time, it simply doesn’t work out. We’ve seen overseas as well people who are saying these drugs are safe, then we have drug traffickers purporting their drugs as safe – there is no drug that is safe.

There is no safe drug at all. We’re opposed to it,” Dep Cmr Patton said.