NSW Shadow Minister for Police Paul Toole
Shadow Minister for Police Paul Toole is strongly opposing NSW Labor’s controversial 12-month pill testing trial at music festivals.
The trial, which will begin in February 2025, will allow festival-goers to have illicit drugs tested for purity, potency, and additives at designated testing sites.
While the NSW Government argues it will reduce harm, the NSW Opposition argues the consequences outweigh potential benefits, ultimately endangering lives and undermining efforts to tackle drug abuse.
The introduction of pill testing into NSW, something that the former NSW Government strongly opposed, has now under NSW Labor sent mixed messages to drug suppliers and potential users. Whilst it remains illegal to possess illicit substances, the NSW Government is now encouraging users and suppliers to smuggle drugs into festivals, and if successful, will then assist them in taking the substances.
Mr Toole said the introduction of pill testing is a dangerous step in the wrong direction.
“This trial is sending the wrong message—that using illegal drugs can be made safer, which is simply not the case,” Mr Toole said.
“There’s no such thing as a safe way to take drugs and we don’t want to create a false sense of confidence that there is.
“The NSW Government has basically said if you can smuggle drugs into festivals past Police and security, we will help you test them before you take them!
“A pill test will not predict how one person to another will react to the substance.”
Despite claims that pill testing can help identify dangerous additives and reduce overdose deaths, experts have cautioned that even “pure” party drugs can be just as deadly.
Incidents of fatal overdoses have occurred with drugs that were purported to be unadulterated, often due to issues like overheating, dehydration, or simply the unpredictability of how different individuals react to the same substances.
“This trials risks normalising drug consumption particularly among younger, impressionable festival-goers and create a false sense of security, leading some to believe that drug use is now somehow more acceptable,” Mr Toole said.
It is clear that this trial has been in the works for some time with the pill testing trial announcement coming a mere two weeks after the recent Drug Summit. The Drug Summit has now been labelled a hoax and a cover for pill testing introduction that the Minns Government has wanted to do all along.
“NSW Premier Chris Minns himself has said there is no safe level of drug consumption at festivals, so why on earth would he now introduce pill testing at these very same events? It stinks of hypocrisy and sees the Premier appeasing the left side of his party, and it clearly shows the Police Minister is weak at the knees, has no sway in Cabinet and has allowed this ridiculous trial to take place,” Mr Toole said.
“This trial is undermining the hard work of NSW Police Officers who are out there day in, day out, trying to keep our community safe and remove drugs from our society, now Labor is encouraging it and continues to drop the ball on law and order in NSW. What a joke!”
