Queensland Government To Host Pill Testing Services At Gold Coast Schoolies

A few months after the successful pill testing trial at this year’s Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival; the Queensland government has announced that pill testing services will be available at this year’s Schoolies on the Gold Coast.

The confidential and free pill-testing service will be located near the entertainment precinct in Surfers Paradise and other health services.

According to a press release, pill testing at Schoolies on Surfer’s Paradise is an expansion of the $1 million investment the Miles Government made this year to fund the delivery and evaluation of fixed-site and event-based services.

The Miles Government introduced the first fixed-site service, CheQpoint, in Bowen Hills in April. In July, a second service opened in Burleigh, Gold Coast.

Within a month at Bowen Hills, 40 people brought 80 samples through the door. A statement says that 74% of the samples were “commonly recognised unregulated substances, including MDMA, Alprazolam and LSD.”

However, workers at the CheQpoint site also discovered that 12% of samples presented to be “novel psychoactive substances,” while 3% were “less common substances” and 8% were “unknown drugs.”

More than half of the people who brought the samples discarded the drugs on site, and 13% reported discarding the substances themselves.

In a statement, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Service and Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman said of the introduction of pill testing services at Schoolies Surfers Paradise:

“Every year, thousands of people die from drug-related deaths in Australia, and one death is one too many. We are particularly concerned about the recent data which shows that illicit drug use in young women is increasing.”

Fentiman added, “This additional service is all about empowering Schoolies with the information they need to make informed decisions that we hope will help to keep them safe.

“We know these sites can [help] people make informed choices, and that’s why the Miles Government is investing an additional $80,000 to establish a site for Schoolies.”

Pill testing services at this year’s Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival ended up being a great success story. Festival organiser Eric Lamir said there were “potentially lives saved, straight up.”

257 punters had their substances tested by a qualified chemist and met with a harm reduction worker, with many attendees reportedly stating that they planned to “reconsider” or take fewer drugs than they initially planned.

Out of 210 samples tested, approximately 14 were thrown in the bin. The most common drugs presented at the services were MDMA and ketamine.

However, the chemists identified two other dangerous substances: Dimethylpentylone (a synthetic cathinone) and 2-fluoro-2-oxo-phenylcyclohexylethylamine, which were missold or advertised as other substances.