Yesterday, International Overdose Awareness Day, a progressive drugs motion by the Greens passed the Senate without objection from Labor or Liberal. International Overdose Awareness Day commemorates all those who have died and been injured by drug overdose. As a former drug and alcohol clinician, Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale is clearly qualified and passionate on the issue,

“Six people in Australia die each day due to overdose. It’s devastating for families, it’s entirely preventable, and our country’s politicians need to find the courage to do what they can to prevent further harm.”

The Senate is calling on the Turnbull government to cease the use of sniffer dogs at festivals, implement pill testing and increase awareness and access to Nalaxone and safe injecting spaces.

The motion passed yesterday states:

That the Senate –
(a) notes that:
(i) today is the 15th annual International Overdose Awareness Day, commemorating all those who have died or been seriously injured due to drug overdose, and
(ii) six people lose their lives to preventable overdose in Australia each day; and
(b) calls on the Government to address the rising rates of harm associated with drug use by implementing and appropriately resourcing evidence-based harm reduction policies, including:
(i) greater access to needle and syringe programs across the country with an urgent roll-out of trials inside prisons,
(ii) expanded access to medically supervised injecting facilities across Australia,
(iii) promoting awareness of the life-saving opioid reversal drug Naloxone, and highlighting its availability over the counter in pharmacies, and
(iv) working with state and territory governments to cease the use of drug sniffer dogs at festivals and urgently introduce trials of pill testing for the upcoming festivals season.

Ending sniffer dogs at festivals has been a priority for the Green party since 2002. According to Parliament statistics sniffer dogs wrongly indicate the presence of drugs 64-72% of the time.