THE State Government’s pill testing trial is continuing across summer with the service to be offered at Spilt Milk music festival in Ballarat on Saturday 6 December.<\/p>\n
The free, confidential service is staffed by experts who provide information designed to keep people safe and help them make informed decisions.<\/p>\n
A range of drugs can be tested and if a high-risk substance is detected, the service works with organisers to quickly warn attendees.<\/p>\n
Last summer, pill testing took place at five festivals and of the nearly 1400 samples tested, 11 per cent were not the drug expected.<\/p>\n
“The results from last festival season speak for themselves: pill testing works,” Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt said.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t encourage young people to use drugs but allows them to see what’s really in their substances and make informed health decisions.<\/p>\n
“With a rise in dangerous synthetic opioids, this service is more important than ever. It offers a sensible health-led approach to reduce drug harms, while also delivering critical drug surveillance information.”<\/p>\n
Last year 10 drug notifications were issued across the five events and two became statewide advisories.<\/p>\n
Pill testing will also be available at Dangerous Goods 6XXL in January and Pitch Music and Arts Festival in March, with more events to be announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE State Government’s pill testing trial is continuing across summer with the service to be offered at Spilt Milk music festival in Ballarat on Saturday 6 December. The free, confidential service is staffed by experts who provide information designed to keep people safe and help them make informed decisions. A range of drugs can be […]<\/p>\n