Harm Reduction Australia has had their proposal of a pill-testing station at the Canberra leg of this year’s Groovin The Moo event rejected by the ACT Government.
Groovin The Moo is Australia’s largest travelling regional Music Festival and it attracts an absolute plethora of young punters each year. Being a Music Festival and all, Harm Reduction Australia, a drug-related harm minimisation group, thought it’d be a good deed to hold a drug-checking trial, before having their hopes dashed by what an ACT Government Spokesperson called “careful consideration.”
Don’t fret, an ACT Government Spokesperson assured that they gave “careful consideration” before making the decision.
“The government came to the conclusion that the proposal would need a significant amount of work and a trial would not be possible in 2017,” he said. “It is the Government’s understanding that the festival organisers came to similar conclusions.”
The spokesman then suggested that a pill-testing operation may be possible by December, for the cities next major music festival, Spilt Milk.
This sort of ignorance has been harshly criticised by multiple groups, including drug reform advocate Dr David Caldicott, saying “Either our opponents have no idea what they are talking about, or they are lying for political gain.” ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury stated he was “bitterly disappointed” with the decision.
Caldicott continued: “There are solutions for every problem they have put forward, but the dominant paradigm is likely cowardliness and fear of making a bold decision to do anything different. What we are doing is ridiculous and achieves nothing.”
Although the continued lobbying for common sense drug-checking programs has arguably had a large impact on the zeitgeist of the Australian public over the last few years, we are yet to see much change. FunFact: Australia had successful drug-testing programs at Music Festivals across Victoria between 2000 – 2005 before political pressure and a lack of support forced the closure of the operation.
What do you make of this decision?
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