Victoria announces permanent pill testing program

The Victorian Government has announced an 18-month ‘implementation trial’ of drug checking from this summer, which will include mobile and fixed site services, and eventually be made permanent.
 
According to a joint announcement from Premier Jacinta Allan and Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt, the move is being introduced following a rise in drug-related emergency department admissions and 46 overdose deaths in 2022 involving novel synthetic drugs.
 
It referenced increased supply of illicit substances with increased potency, like fentanyl and nitazenes, while pointing out that Victorian paramedics responded to more drug overdoses at festivals in the first three months of this than all of 2023.
 
The trial will test different delivery models, beginning with a mobile service at the start of the festival season before expanding to include a fixed site in mid-2025.
 
RACGP Victoria Chair, Dr Anita Muñoz, said the announcement represents a huge step forward that will save lives.
 
‘A drug testing trial will enable people to understand what they are actually taking, including young people experimenting with illicit drugs who have their whole lives ahead of them,’ she said.
 
‘Trained staff at these services can talk to them free of judgement about why they are using drugs and outline the risks involved.
 
‘Drug testing has been proven to work in other jurisdictions … this is a victory for common sense and sound policy over tired rhetoric and a “war-on-drugs” mentality that gets us nowhere.’
 
While governments have traditionally tried to control drug use with a law-and-order approach, Dr Muñoz instead frames it as a health issue.
 
‘Earlier this year, we called on the Victorian Government to heed coronial recommendations to trial a drug testing service. The Government has not only listened to the college, and a host of other groups, but acted decisively to introduce mobile and fixed sites. It’s such a fantastic outcome.
 
‘Drug testing is not about condoning illicit drug use, rather it’s a sensible harm-reduction measure. There is no use pretending that people don’t use illicit drugs, it is a reality of life. So, let’s focus on minimising harm and keeping people as safe as possible.’
 
The Government anticipates the drug checking sites will be able to test the make-up of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals, or liquids and identify harmful chemicals that can lead to death.
 
Trained peer workers and technical experts will be present during testing to provide personalised and confidential health information to help people make better, safer and more informed decisions.
 
The announcement follows the start of similar programs in Queensland and the ACT, and RACGP addiction medicine spokesperson Dr Marguerite Tracy has called for other states and territories to follow suit.
 
‘This is fantastic news, and further evidence that momentum is building around Australia,’ she said.
 
‘It is time for other states and territories to follow suit. Every life is worth saving. And every day we delay is another day that people can experience overdoses and be hospitalised, or worse.’
 
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