Pill testing pilot officially starts today in Sydney, allowing drug users to test their substances

The first drug screening pilot in NSW will launch in an inner-city suburb from Monday, ahead of the much-anticipated Drug Summit taking place later this year.

The programme, colloquially known as pill testing, will be run one day a week for around four months at the Medical Supervised Injecting Center (MSIC) in Kings Cross, and will take samples from 100 volunteers.

Participants in the pilot must already be registered to use the MSIC services, which are managed by Uniting NSW. ACT, and give a small amount of their pre-obtained medications for control.

The program, known as pill testing, will take samples from 100 volunteers, who will then have their substance analyzed

They then receive an analysis of their substance, detailing the mix of drugs present, the purity of the substance, plus targeted advice on harm reduction.

The samples will also be sent to the NSW Health Pathology Forensic & Analytical Science Service for further confirmatory testing and analysis of the drug composition.

No legislation or government approval was required to start the pilot program as it is a research project. However, the program has received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of both the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD).

MSIC medical director Marianne Jauncey said the main illicit drugs coming through the center were methamphetamine and heroin, followed by a ‘range of other substances’.

She says the study will analyze the interest, feasibility and efficacy of testing, and whether drug testing can positively influence people’s behavior around drug use.

For example, whether the detection of other substances will prevent users from taking the medicines.

‘It will also improve monitoring of the street drug market so that unexpected or highly dangerous substances can be identified earlier, ideally before people use them,’ Dr Jauncey said.

“NSW has reason to be concerned as drug markets become increasingly unpredictable post-Covid.”

She hopes the program will strengthen the case for drug control ahead of a yet-to-be-announced Drug Summit, which NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has promised later this year.

“The reality is that people are using drugs, people are injecting and people are dying as a result, and so anything we can do to reduce harm has to be a good thing,” she said.

The program will investigate whether drug control can positively influence people’s behavior around drug use, especially if the detection of harmful substances deters a user from using the drugs

The NSW government has held off further policy announcements around drug reform until the Drug Summit, but Health Minister Ryan Park has historically said pill testing was not part of the government’s reform agenda, claiming music festival programs are not a ‘magic bullet’ were against deaths.

“I don’t think we should have the idea that pill testing is a silver bullet that will protect everyone who goes to a music festival,” Park told a budget committee in February.

Unite NSW. ACT advocacy general manager Emma Maiden said she believes NSW had a “narrow view” of education, which creates missed opportunities for “meaningful engagement” around harm reduction.

Ahead of last year’s summer music festival season, Uniting joined a host of other advocacy groups in calling on NSW Premier Chris Minns to implement pill testing measures, but this was rejected.

“NSW was a leader 25 years ago, I think it’s fair to say we’re not a leader anymore,” Ms Maiden said.

“In Australia and around the world, we are seeing governments taking different stances on drug legislation to reduce harm.”

Nationally, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the only jurisdiction with a drug testing facility, but the Queensland Government has announced that a permanent site will open in Brisbane’s Bowen Hills area later this month.