It was Easter 2024 when Queensland introduced its first festival drug-testing accompanied by the opening of two fixed-address drug testing units located in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
They were introduced following best practice approaches to drug harm reduction and education.
Yet when they were elected, against all scientific evidence, the Queensland Liberal National Party removed funding for the two fixed address drug-testing facilities then followed up by banning pill testing in Queensland when it became apparent that a not-for-profit organisation, The Loop Australia, was about to receive private funding to reopen.
‘We do not tolerate it. We will not allow it, and we will legislate or regulate against those private providers,’ Queensland’s Deputy Premier, Jarrod Bleijie, said at the time.
The drug-testing facilities were supported by the Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
Following the Queensland government’s decision Dr Nick Yim, AMAQ President told the ABC, ‘We’re very disappointed about the decision last night. We know from pill testing, from worldwide research and evidence, it does save lives.
‘It does provide an opportunity for individuals to have their pills tested, but at the same time, and more importantly, have a conversation with a healthcare professional. This might be the first time they ever have spoken to a healthcare professional about drug use, alcohol use, but even potentially an on-referral to a GP or a doctor to have a discussion about other issues. And from our local research and studies, many individuals have also disposed of their illicit drugs and not even taken them at the end of the day,’ he said.
Super-potent synthetic opioids
In August, CEO of The Loop Australia, Cameron Francis, said, ‘Queensland is seeing super-potent synthetic opioids like nitazenes starting to show up. It’s terrifying to think what rate of overdoses we will see from nitazenes if we can’t detect them first and warn the public.’
Then on Tuesday, Canberra’s drug-checking service said they had detected a potentially deadly illicit substance over the weekend that is so novel that its effects are not known.
Currently 80,000 to 100,000 people are dying a year in the US as a result of drugs.
Providing drug-testing facilities have been a key part of the NSW Ice Enquiry recommendations, and was again supported by the 2025 NSW summit which called for a trial of drugchecking services.
Dr David Caldicott, who was the medical lead in charge of Queensland’s first drug-testing trial at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival, told The Echo at the time that, ‘There is a mythology that you can have your cake and eat it with the moral approach of “use less drugs” and the health approach of less people being harmed. But you can’t have both.
From a medical and scientific perspective we can prevent harm. This is a conversation that requires people to be alive to have the conversations,’ he said.
‘Opposition to drug-testing is not scientific. It is a moral position, they are asking us to take a line that has no supporting evidence.
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