As lethal synthetic drugs spread across Australia, several states and territories are expanding drug testing services to reduce harm.
However, the Queensland Government has taken a strong anti-drug testing stance and is now remaining tight-lipped about a report looking into its clinics’ effectiveness.
Recent trials in Queensland detected nitazenes, powerful synthetic opioids linked to at least one confirmed death.
The sites were shut down shortly after.
So, why does drug testing need to stay?
On Wednesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with CEO of the Qld Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies (QNADA), Rebecca Lang, to discuss what the report found, and how critics are repeating old mistakes.
“Simply, we haven’t had a human civilisation that has eradicated drug use,” Lang said.
Lang and other experts argue that testing services save lives by identifying dangerous or misrepresented substances before they are consumed.
She said drug checking can prevent overdoses by reaching users who ignore warnings.
“It’s to capture that group of people who don’t listen to the prevention messaging, who are not at risk of death necessarily, but can experience a range of harms if the substance that they’ve purchased is not what they’ve been told it was,” she said.
She criticised the Queensland Government’s refusal to reconsider its position.
“It’s really only possible to hold that position if you’ve never met the families that have lost someone to overdose.”
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