For the first time in four years on-site pill testing has returned at an Australian music festival, this time at Spilt Milk in Canberra. Festival goers have welcomed its return after learning of the decision just hours out from the beginning of the event.
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00:00 It's been four years since Australia's last on-site pill testing, which was held at Groove
00:06 and the Moo Festival, also here in Canberra in 2019.
00:10 Since then there's been COVID-19 interruptions of course, but the main issue was that there
00:15 were expensive insurance premiums that actually forced the service to be stopped.
00:20 That hurdle somewhere in the last 24 hours has been overcome, so these festival goers
00:25 will have access to the free and confidential on-site pill testing service today.
00:30 Canberra's fixed testing site, CanTest, has extended its opening hours into the lead-up
00:35 to the festival, and they've been really concerned about the strong doses of MDMA and cocaine
00:40 that they've found, and sometimes up to double the dose that people are expecting.
00:44 The difference with the on-site testing is that while it tells you what's in the drugs,
00:47 it doesn't actually tell you the percentages.
00:50 So while testing is a great step in harm reduction, the festival organisers are still encouraging
00:56 the goers to be cautious.
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