Canberra academic and physician Dr David Caldicott told 10 daily there was “no evidence” that pill testing encourages or condones drug use — “quite the opposite”, he countered, citing research from long-running programs operating in Europe. “Either a person making these type of comments doesn’t really understand the process, or they do and they’re happy to misrepresent it to the…

Testing drugs to see if they have been cut with poisonous substances does not equate to condoning drug use. Rather, it means the safety of the person taking what they believe to be a particular drug has been considered. Experimenting with drugs is a reality, but shouldn’t we try to reduce the harm associated with drug use if we can?…

President of the Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association (FACTA), Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos, told newsGP his organisation supports pill testing. ‘We support the notion of pill testing, and that’s true for most forensic toxicologists. We are not advocating that illicit drug use is OK, but we support the notion that pill testing is effective, not only here but overseas. […]

Ms Grahame is expected to receive a private police briefing at 9am before meeting with harm minimisation group Red Frogs. She will later have a front-row seat as David Caldicott – an emergency medicine specialist and the leader of Australia’s only sanctioned pill testing trials – demonstrates how drug checking works. […]

It’s an old harm reduction adage that new strategies to combat drug war casualties always face harsh resistance. This seems to be especially so in NSW, which was once a pioneer in establishing needle exchanges and a safe injecting room, both of which Dr Wodak brought across the line. “If this premier doesn’t support pill testing, then the next one…

For the sake of thousands of festival-goers who will take MDMA at festivals over summer irrespective of what politicians say, let’s hope the Premier shows the same compassion as the deputy coroner and her team when the recommendations land. […]

SMH reports that emergency Dr David Caldicott wants to conduct the demonstration this coming weekend at the festival. Coroner Grahame, as well as the mother of Alex Ross-King who died at FOMO Festival earlier this year, have both expressed interest in attending the demonstration. Dr Caldicott has been part of two pill testing trials at Groovin The Moo in Canberra, both of which…

In the present debate about harm minimisation, it’s the NSW deputy coroner, Harriet Grahame, who’s willing to identify what so many – least of all the NSW premier – just will not. In March, releasing findings from a previous inquest into deaths related to opioid drugs, Grahame recommended “decriminalising personal use of drugs, as a mechanism to reduce the harm…

A Hobart culture and events committee has unanimously voted in favour of supporting a pill testing trial at the city’s major events. The trial would require the state government’s support, but its stance against pill testing had remained firm, with newly appointed Health Minister Sarah Courtney saying pill testing was not supported by the government. […]

Emergency doctor David Caldicott, a senior lecturer at Australian National University, told 10 daily he has “faith” in the coroner’s court to produce well-informed and useful suggestions — but was not confident about how well they would be implemented. “I suspect the coronial report will be full of useful suggestions, many of which will be ignored by our elected representatives…