FDS Insight Magazine Aug - Oct 2022

13 ‘We’ve had recent coroner’s cases where we’ve seen the deaths of people attending festivals because they haven’t had access to check their drugs,’ she said. ‘If people are given the opportunity to get their drugs tested, if they find out that it’s not safe, that it’s not what they think it is, they will alter their behaviour. ‘I want them to have information so that they can make reasoned decisions … that they’ve got somewhere safe to go where they can get good information, good advice to support them to do that more safely.’ A survey carried out during the 2019 election suggested that the majority of Australians – around 63% – support the idea of pill testing at music festivals. Dr Wilson also believes the presence of fixed site testing services could benefit GPs. ‘We are trusted by our patients, and they do ask us about this and expect us to be able to talk to them about it,’ she said. ‘It’s a great thing to be able to say to a person who’s using, do you know ... there’s a place that you can go to get the substance that you use checked to make sure that you’re going to be okay?’ Expanding access to offer similar services elsewhere, particularly in more rural areas, is a development Dr Wilson still hopes for – although she describes the debate as ‘highly politicised’, which she says does not always allow policy to be based on evidence. The ACT has previously had pill- testing facilities put in place on a temporary basis, both times to coincide with the Groovin the Moo Festival in 2018 and 2019. In the latter year, there were seven dangerous substances identified, with people dumping potentially unsafe pills. The move caused considerable debate, with toxicologists at the time telling newsGP they had concerns about the accuracy of the testing as well as the possibility the site could encourage more drug use. It is not, however, a concern shared by Dr Wilson. ‘I would be strongly supportive of it rolling around out all around Australia,’ she said.