State Government rules out changes to pill testing policy ahead of Bunbury’s Groovin the Moo festival

The State Government has confirmed it will not be changing its position on allowing pill testing at music festivals despite a wave of recent hospitalisations throughout other states. The confirmation comes in the lead-up to music festivals across WA, including the return of Groovin the Moo in Bunbury this May. A spokesperson for the State Government said there were no changes in the works on current policy, despite the roll-out of pill testing at festivals across Canberra. “The Cook Government has no plans to introduce pill testing in Western Australia at this time,” they said. “However we continue to monitor emerging pill-testing research, including the outcomes of the ACT’s pill-testing pilot.” National Drug Research Institute research associate Dr Jodie Grigg said the State Government’s tough-on-drugs stance needed to change. “We would like to see them act on the evidence (on drug checking),” she said. “It’s not a new initiative, it’s been operating internationally for up to 50 years and is now in at least 28 countries, so that argument that we don’t have the evidence and it’s not feasible is simply not accurate.” “We all agree that drug checking is not a silver bullet and it needs to be part of a whole suite of harm reduction measures but it’s a strategy that now has a strong evidence base, majority support from the Australian public, and peak health bodies, as well as being recommended by multiple coronial inquests.” Dr Grigg said harm reduction should be the priority with measures put in place at festivals. “We need to recognise that we are not always going to be able to prevent drug use,” she said. “No government is going to be able to stop drug use, but what we are aiming to do is reduce the harm associated with that drug use. “So yes, with less punitive approaches it’s possible you might have a few more people using, but as a whole with these kinds of measures, we’re likely to see less harm associated with that use.” The subject has been raised after the hospitalisation of nine people in Victoria this year following drug overdoses at a rave in Melbourne. Another two women were hospitalised during the Juicy Fest a week after the incident. Dr Grigg said that while the current approach in WA deters people from bringing substances with them to festivals, it does not necessarily prevent them from using. “We know that illicit drugs are very easy to find inside the festivals,” she said. “If there’s demand inside the festival, that demand is going to be met. “The problem is that when people are selling inside the festival, the people buying those drugs don’t necessarily have reviews from peers that have used drugs from that batch before or any way to make an informed decision about the use of that drug. “If there’s no pill testing, there’s no way to really know anything about that substance so it really increases the risk.” In 2020, the State Government agreed to establish a working group to “consider strategies for optimising safety at music festivals.” The Premier’s office did not answer questions as to what the result of the working group was.