Mother Of Overdose Victim Backs Call For Pill Testing At Aussie Music Fests

Following news this past week that free pill testing kits will be available at music festivals across Sydney this summer, the mother of a punter who died from a drug overdose in 2012 has called on the government to implement the initiative nation-wide. 

As news.com.au reports, after losing her son in 2012 following an overdose at Victoria's Rainbow Serpent festival, Adriana Buccianti spoke at a launch for Unharm (an organisation pushing for a more ethical approach to drug use) on Friday. 

Buccianti referenced the death of Victorian footballer Riki Stephens who also died of a drug overdose on the Gold Coast last month. 

"When I heard of that young man it felt like I was reliving it all again; the police, the autopsy, the coroner’s reports," Buccianti said.

"We’ve already had one death this year and I’m hoping against hope that will be it. But the bottom line is people will take drugs, irrespective of the law.

"If pill testing was implemented people might not take their drugs because no one wants to come out of a festival or nightclub in a body bag if they think their drugs might kill them."

Buccianti's petition to introduce drug testing services in Australia has already garnered nearly 38,000 signatures — click here to read more. 

"Taking party drugs at these events is common and this continues despite saturation policing, drug detection dogs and many arrests," Unharm Executive Director, Will Tregoning, told news.com.au.

"Young people dying at music festivals has become an all too common and unacceptable feature of the Australian summer.

"At the moment, people who take party drugs are prevented from finding out what’s really in them. At the same time, we’re seeing more substances cropping up on the market in toxic doses. We’ve got to change that."