MEDIA RELEASE
New call for Chris Minns to greenlight drug checking from drug experts, doctors and lawyers
11.9.23
With a hot summer festival season on the way, advocates and experts are calling on Premier Chris Minns to urgently set up drug checking to help people stay safe. Heat drastically increases the risk of something going wrong when taking untested drugs. By pushing drug checking off the agenda until the next election, the Minns government is putting lives at risk this summer.
This inaction has prompted renewed, urgent calls on Premier Minns to commit to drug checking. An Open Letter to the Premier has been signed by experts, practitioners and advocates including the Uniting Church, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, NADA and the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
Drug checking has been recommended by both the 2019 Coronial Inquest into Festival Deaths and the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’. More than twenty countries around the world have drug checking services already operating, including Australia and New Zealand. The Queensland Government is currently following the ACT’s lead and working to get drug checking services up and running by the end of the year. Drug checking is supported by over 60% of the NSW public.
Professor Dan Howard, Commissioner of the Special Commission of Inquiry in the Drug ‘Ice’ called out the NSW government’s inaction on drug checking, citing strong evidence for the efficacy of drug checking: “My Special Commission of Inquiry heard a great deal of evidence and concluded that there is a strong and compelling evidence base to support drug checking as an effective harm reduction measure in conjunction with other harm reduction strategies.
“That was over three and a half years ago.
“The success of the CanTEST program in the ACT has provided further compelling evidence yet NSW continues its inexplicable paralysis on this pressing issue.”
Unharm CEO Will Tregoning says NSW government’s ban on drug checking is putting lives at risk: “People from all walks of life use drugs, helping everyone stay safe shouldn’t be illegal.”
“A summer festival season with scorching temperatures, and no way for people to test their drugs is a recipe for disaster.”
“The message from the experts, the evidence and the community is clear – drug checking is the right thing to do. It will help keep people safe and prevent tragedies this summer. It’s time NSW got with the times and took this simple, proven step to help people stay safe.”
Dr Hester Wilson, Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Specific Interests Addiction Medicine encouraged Premier Minns to help people stay safe by setting up drug checking services: “I encourage the NSW Minns Government to support the safety and wellbeing of NSW residents by allowing both mobile and fixed substance safety checking sites to operate in NSW.”
Unharm campaigns to reform drug laws, replace punishment with health focused support, and reduce the social harms caused by prohibition.
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