ULTRA AUSTRALIA CALLS FOR PILL TESTING

Ultra Australia is making a push to have Pill Testing at their upcoming Sydney event. This is on the back of 5 deaths in recent festivals. Pill testing has proven to reduce harm around the globe.

Ultra has joined forces with Pill Testing Australia (formerly STA-SAFE) and the NSW Users And AIDS Association (NUAA) to request the NSW Government allow the trial to run at Sydney’s Parramatta Park on Sunday, 24th February.

If the trial is approved it will be only the 2nd major music festival in Australia to have Pill Testing.

Ultra Australia operator Dave Rubin had this to say.

“We want to enable patrons to make better decisions,” he said.

“We do not condone drug usage, but we must acknowledge that it is present in all forms of society not just music events. The zero-tolerance stance does not work. This approach is not currently successful despite working tirelessly with the police to keep drugs out of our events and we need to acknowledge this goes beyond policing and is a health issue.

“We also want our patrons to know they can seek help or medical assistance without fear of retribution. By offering them knowledge about what they are taking, and the risks, we believe being armed with the information will help them form a better opinion and hopefully make smarter choices.

“We will always work within the confines of the law, but the laws need to adapt to enable us to provide a safer environment.”

The NUAA is an agency funded by NSW Health, and runs the DanceWize NSW program promoting festival safety. The organisation’s CEO, Mary Ellen Harrod, said “education is the key to keeping people safe” at music festivals.

“Pill testing is one measure that will support education and allow young people to pause and consider their options,” she said.

“At the moment, it’s legal to buy reagent testing kits but we don’t allow best practice pill testing, a situation that makes no sense. We know pill testing works from the successful Australian trial and years of overseas experience.

We need to do more in order to save lives! While I know that Pill Testing will not solve all our problems when it comes to drugs at music events but its a step in the right direction.