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Another overdose death at a music festival in NSW. Is it time to introduce pill testing?

Interested to hear what people think about pill testing at functions like music festivals. From what I've read from studies overseas, it seems to have a positive impact on people at functions and there are claims that it has reduced deaths and even led to an improvement in the quality of drugs on the market.

What do people think about it?
SW-User Best Comment
I think half of those overdoses come from the fear of confrontation of sniffer dogs, I nearly swallowed 20 something pills in a night club because I thought I was going to get done. Being in a box is a lot better for me than the best years of my life caged.
The authorities have to accept that party drugs are part of the music festival culture in Australia, and people are going to have an eccy or an acid tab seeing their fave gig and it’s a peaceful atmosphere compared to being in a club full of drunks in king street smashing empty bottles over each other. If recreational use wasn’t criminalised, and pill testing facilities are avaliable, people are more likely to throw their drugs away if it’s found to have adulterated contents. Think how many lives would be saved, and less lives and futures ruined on behalf of criminal convictions if testing was allowed. But the problem is the NSW government are a bunch of nazis with heads that far up their arses looking back into the 19th century, and they encourage the other states to follow their bullshit zero tolerance bullshit. Go bust people with ice that’s causing alarming criminal activity and domestic violence.
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@SW-User Fuck, you were lucky, bro. I just used to carry some lengths of very hard rubber. If anyone asked, they were for padding under the car seat when I needed it.
SW-User
I was still on my P plates and was only licenced to drive auto, they didn’t even pick up that my car was a manual lol.@Bushranger
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@SW-User Lol.

Tatsumi · 31-35, M
It's time to make sure kratom stays legal.

/becomes legal, depending on where you live.

But for stuff like ecstasy, 95% of street X contains no MDMA, and contains a lot of dangerous lab chemicals. I popped that shit like candy when I was a dumb teenager. Who knows what it did to my brain and body. And I could have easily died, too. Didn't find out until later that virtually all X was fake.

I'd be very pro-testing at music festivals.
SW-User
Kratom?@Tatsumi
Tatsumi · 31-35, M
@SW-User An herb in the coffee family from South-East Asia with traits similar to opiates, but not an actual opiate. Overdose is impossible, and it kills pain 3x better than morphine, as well as having anti-addictive potential.

Well, the plant is addictive, and has opiate-like effects, but it also suppresses addictive behavior and cravings for other drugs.

Pretty much a miracle herb for drug addicts, namely opiate addicts, and those with pain management issues.

And many say it's great for depression/anxiety, as well.

I assumed opiate overdose when I first read. Kratom isn't really a party drug.
srxwat4 · 61-69, M
How many people died at work?It doesn't matter,pill testing has been proven to work all around the world,even Oz.They won't change until it is one of their own children who dies.
srxwat4 · 61-69, M
Why,didn't you try drugs growing up,telling some one to stop just doesn't work.
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@srxwat4 I never said that I didn't try drugs growing up. On the contrary. I'll admit that it was mostly pot and some speed, but I'd never try to prohibit drugs. That only leads to a strong and dangerous black market. Nancy Reagan's message of "Just say no!" hasn't worked at all.
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@srxwat4 Sorry, just re-read your post. Gotta agree with what you said. I missed the comma after What when I first read it.
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Bushranger · 70-79, M
@SW-User It seems that we are in agreement then.
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xSharp · 31-35, M
they didnt od on drugs they od'd on water as the drug screws with the bodies ability to know when they have drank too much, you do not need to drink lots of water on e, in fact i drank alcohol the whole time i was at tiesto
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@xSharp My understanding is that when someone takes their pills in for testing, they are given advice regarding how to take whatever it is safely. I assume that would include information of water consumption. Do you think that would be beneficial?
xSharp · 31-35, M
@Bushranger they should be told that it prevents you from knowing when you have had enough water, to only drink the recommended daily amount, and to not chug bottle after bottle in front of every person you meet so that they [i]know[/i] your on drugs too and therefore fit in lol
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@xSharp Perhaps that could be included in the program.
SW-User
I've gotten to the point that I think the entire 'war on drugs' is misguided and failing. Testing makes sense if you acknowledge the reality that people are going to experiment regardless
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@SW-User Never tried any drugs?
SW-User
@Bushranger Not the ones I'm hankering for now -DMT is high on the list. I have never really had anything that's had much of an effect, but I have tried different things, especially when younger. I'm not a goody two shoes by choice, more lack of opportunity 😂
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@SW-User I can dig that. Pretty much the same for me, lol.
There's always going to be illegal drugs, theres always going to be death.
Its not always just the pills, sometimes they have a heart condition or something that they were unaware of, alot of the time its because of a mix if different pills and alcohol.
At the end of the day though, people die, its not really a shock.
suzie1960 · 61-69, F
Anti-drug legislation causes more problems than the drugs themselves. If they were legal, they could be produced in licensed laboratories and subject to rigorous quality control. It would also take them out of the hands of criminal gangs.
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@suzie1960 You know, I thought that I was the only person in the world who felt like that. With the exception of some violence caused by ice use, the majority of drug crime is related to financing the addiction. We've been pretty much doing it with alcohol and tobacco but the lethality of those drugs makes the illicit drugs look like candy.
Tonydang · M
It can’t hurt there going to take the pills regardless maybe if they were told it was bad they would only take 1 you will find most pop 2 or 3
Inquisator · M
I see it like evolution, if your stupid enough to pop pills sold by a shady dude with an alligator smile, you are not fit for the gene pool
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@Inquisator Which, I understand, is something that pill testing will tell the user. They can then decide whether or not the pill is worth taking.
Inquisator · M
@Bushranger Yes but that would legalize the use of pills, and the effect of the chemicals in the pills will fuck your brain over anyway, they might just keep you from dying in the first place.
SW-User
And alcohol doesn’t do the same? But worse? And yet legal 🤔🤔🤔@Inquisator
Tonydang · M
I think they won’t test them because that will leave them liable if something was to go wrong there more worried about covering there own ass’s
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@Tonydang It's being done in other countries and was trialled in Canberra relatively recently.
millennialgrandpa · 31-35, M
Most of my family are against it because they believe it'll encourage drug use. I'm for it
Bushranger · 70-79, M
@millennialgrandpa Yeah, a common misconception.
Carazaa · F
Good idea!

 
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