Greens Motion On Pill Tests & Drug Dogs Passes Senate -- But Maybe Don't Get Too Excited Yet

1 September 2016 | 6:15 pm | Staff Writer

"Now it's time for Liberal and Labor governments to back these measures in every state and territory."

An Australian Greens motion calling for the introduction of pill testing, and gradual elimination of drug sniffer dogs at music festivals, has passed the Senate without opposition from either major party.

The motion was brought before the Senate yesterday, 31 August — incidentally, International Overdose Awareness Day — and also encompassed provisions for an increase to the number of needle and syringe programs across Australia, including inside prisons, as well as greater access to medically supervised injecting facilities, and signal-boosting awareness of Naxolone, an over-the-counter medication used to combat the effects of opoids, especially in cases of overdose.

"Six people in Australia die each day due to overdose," Greens leader Richard Di Natale said in a statement. "It's devastating for families, it's entirely preventable, and our country's politicians need to find the courage to do what they can to prevent further harm. Needle and syringe programs, supervised injecting rooms, pill testing — these are all evidence-based harm reduction measures that the government should resource. 

"I'm pleased the Senate has agreed that the Federal Government should act. Now it's time for Liberal and Labor governments to back these measures in every state and territory."

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It's that final sentence that should pretty swiftly put the brakes on any runaway hype about what the passing of this motion actually means for festival punters and their pills as well as the likelihood of sniffer dogs becoming a thing of the past, especially given that the governments of Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria have vocally opposed the prospect of introducing such harm-minimisation measures in recent times, not to mention the fact that a motion passing the Senate is still a pretty long way away from the introduction of anything even approaching a change to any laws. 

Although neither Labor nor the LNP raised any flags about the motion, it did nonetheless face a degree of notable opposition — from Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie, who said, although she "agree[s] with the majority of the points in the motion", she could not support it because of the call to stop using sniffer dogs.

"More families would feel the heartache of losing loved ones from drug overdoses if we listened to the Greens," Lambie said during the session. "The Greens' policies on illegal drugs do harm. Their attempt in this motion to make it easier for our younger people to access dangerous drugs is plain reckless … Getting rid of drug sniffer dogs would cause the same outcome as the Greens' policy to decriminalise ice; both would lead to more addiction, more harm and a hell of a lot more misery."

However, Di Natale — while acknowledging Lambie's position — remained firm: "Sadly, drug sniffer dogs have been shown to encourage more harmful drug use. We have people who take increased quantities of drugs before going to festivals and, when they see a sniffer dog, they often ingest larger, more harmful quantities of drugs in order to escape arrest. That is the consequence of sniffer dogs. We need to be guided by the evidence on this front."

Ultimately, though, this all still has to happen with the co-operation of the state governments, who, as we just mentioned, aren't exactly super into the idea — so, yeah, we wouldn't break out the party streamers just yet. 

Read the full text of the Greens' motion below.

The Greens motion that passed this afternoon read:

That the Senate—
(a) notes that:
(i)   today is the 15th annual International Overdose Awareness Day, commemorating all those who have died or been seriously injured due to drug overdose, and
(ii)   six people lose their lives to preventable overdose in Australia each day; and
(b) calls on the Government to address the rising rates of harm associated with drug use by implementing and appropriately resourcing evidence-based harm reduction policies, including:
(i)   greater access to needle and syringe programs across the country with an urgent roll-out of trials inside prisons,
(ii)   expanded access to medically supervised injecting facilities across Australia,
(iii)   promoting awareness of the life-saving opioid reversal drug Naloxone, and highlighting its availability over the counter in pharmacies, and
(iv)   working with state and territory governments to cease the use of drug sniffer dogs at festivals and urgently introduce trials of pill testing for the upcoming festivals season.