Doctors Join Push For Pill-Testing

Doctors are urging politicians to trial pill-testing – saying the move could save lives.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which represents more than 17,000 physicians and paediatricians, has sent an open letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her counterparts urging them to follow the lead of the ACT.

"The RACP's experts in addiction medicine and public health medicine believe the evidence currently available justifies the introduction of carefully designed pill testing trials in Australia," Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said on Friday.

"Ideally, we would all like young people and the wider public not to use drugs illicitly, however, the reality is that they do in large numbers and the moral message to abstain from taking drugs is not getting through."

They now join the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, who are also urging governments to adopt pill testing.

Five people have died after taking drugs at music festivals in NSW alone since September.

Ms Berejiklian has consistently rejected calls to introduce pill testing, despite emotional pleas from the families of some of those who have died.

She believes there is not enough evidence to show it can save lives.

But experts disagree.

The RACP  says evidence to date shows that existing policies at festivals to discourage drug-taking, including heavy police presence, sniffer dogs and searches, are not effective.

The NSW coroner is now looking into the recent five music festival deaths, with a directions hearing to be held next Tuesday ahead of a likely inquest.

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