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Would pill testing at festivals actually provide accurate results?

Article image for Would pill testing at festivals actually provide accurate results?

Police have issued a fresh warning for people attending music festivals to steer clear of drugs, with another fatal overdose reigniting debate on pill testing.

A 22-year-old Queensland man was taken to Gosford Hospital on Saturday night after attending the Lost Paradise Music Festival at Glenworth Valley and died a short time later.

A man and woman also remain in a stable condition after ingesting an unknown substance and becoming sick at the event, which was advertised as drug-free.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, two men were hospitalised after suffering drug overdoses at Beyond the Valley music festival over the weekend.

It has advocates renewing their push for pill-testing at festivals.

But critics are arguing there would be accuracy issues if drugs were to be tested at events.

ANU College of Health and Medicine Associate Professor Doctor David Caldicott tells John Stanely that might not be the case.

“The sort of equipment that is usable in the festival environment has actually, in Europe for example, is being used in the same way as it’s being used in laboratories.”

Concerns have also been raised over the liability of government if a pill test at a festival was proven to be inaccurate, resulting in another death.

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

JOHN STANLEY
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