Queensland has announced it will ban funding for drug
checking services, becoming the first Australian state to do so, despite new
data showing one in five residents reported using illicit substances in the
past year.
Health Minister Tim Nicholls said late Thursday that
the state government was committed to a “zero-tolerance approach to illicit
drugs.”
“There is no safe way to take drugs,” Nicholls said.
“Drug checking services send the wrong message to Queenslanders.”
The decision follows a year-long government-funded
trial of pill testing in the state, during which nonprofit group The Loop
Australia analysed 1,200 drug samples.
Cameron Francis, the organisation’s chief executive,
expressed disappointment at the ban, warning it would leave users more
vulnerable.
“Without a service like pill testing, we have no idea
what is circulating until it is too late,” he told AFP.
According to The Loop’s trial data, one in seven drugs
were voluntarily discarded after testing, while a third of participants were
referred to health services. One in five said they planned to reduce their drug
use following the checks.
Francis also raised concerns about Australia’s
increasingly dangerous drug market, pointing to the rise of synthetic opioids
such as fentanyl.
The Australian Medical Association’s Queensland
president, Nick Yim, criticised the government’s decision, warning it could
lead to more hospitalisations during the upcoming summer festival season.
Official figures show 3.9 million Australians — about
18 percent of those aged 14 and over — used an illicit drug in the past year,
with Queensland ranking third-highest nationally. In 2023, there were 1,635
drug-induced deaths across the country, most of them accidental.
While Queensland has now banned the practice, drug
testing services and trials continue in the Australian Capital Territory,
Victoria, and New South Wales, where most of the country’s major music
festivals are held. Testing kits also remain available for purchase online.
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