Leading medical body calls for pill testing trials at Australian festivals

Australia's peak body for physicians has thrown its support behind calls to introduce pill testing at music festivals, urging state governments to take action to introduce the measures.

Despite NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian previously saying there is "no evidence" pill testing can save lives, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has hit back in an open letter addressed to premiers and chief ministers.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the letter reads “in light of the six deaths at festivals in Australia since last September, we urge you to follow the lead of the ACT government in consulting with medical experts to establish pill testing trials in your state or territory.”

President of the RACP’s Addiction Medicine chapter, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones advised "there is good evidence to show that people who submit their drugs for testing are quite likely to act on this information given to them as a result of having the testing done.

"And there is a sufficient body of research to say there is no evidence that pill testing is causing harm or increases the risk of people taking drugs when they otherwise might not."

It comes after the NSW Government was also urged to launch a ‘pilot pill testing trial’ at Ultra Music Festival Australia in Sydney next month, while the NSW Coroners Court confirmed it would hold a public hearing into the recent suspected drug-related deaths next week, including that of 19-year-old Alex Ross-King who died after attending the FOMO Festival in Sydney's Parramatta Park last weekend.

FOMO Festival images courtesy of Transport for NSW.