News
6 April, 2024
Queensland’s First Pill Testing Service Launched
Queensland’s first event-based drug checking service was trialled over Easter at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival, marking a national first for a multi-day music festival.
Queensland’s first event-based drug checking service was trialled over Easter at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival, marking a national first for a multi-day music festival.
The free, voluntary, and confidential service tested substances for dangerous compounds while providing harm reduction advice. Delivered by Pill Testing Australia, the initiative saw 257 festivalgoers visit the drug-checking tent over four days, with 210 samples tested. Of those, 14 were discarded after testing.
MDMA and ketamine were the most commonly presented substances, while higher-risk compounds, including a synthetic cathinone and a newly detected substance in Australia, were also identified.
The Miles Government is investing nearly $1 million over two years to fund and evaluate drug checking services, with a fixed-site service set to launch in Brisbane in mid-April.
A second site will be established through a co-design process with people with lived experience.
