Pill testing: CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service to target intentional users

A long-awaited static pill testing site will open in Canberra's city centre this week with a six-month pilot program to operate at the Moore Street facility.

People will be able to take pills and other drugs to the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service where they will undergo a chemical analysis which will be able to determine if a harmful substance is dominant within the drug.

The service is confidential and people do not need proof of identity to access the service, however, people will need to sign a waiver acknowledging the limitations of drug testing.

The service will be run by Directions Health Services with help from Pill Testing Australia and the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy.

Directions Health Services chief executive Bronwyn Hendry said the service would be targeted at intentional drug users.

"We really want this to be an intentional harm reduction service where people plan ahead. Most people do plan ahead, I think, with purchasing illicit drugs for consumption at a party or a festival or a nightclub," she said.

"We know that just by coming to this service people are actually interested in looking after their health and they're interested in finding out what is in the substances.

"This is often the first opportunity that young people and other people will have to discuss their drug-use in a non-judgemental way with a health professional and be given evidence-based advice."

Police will not patrol the area around the service but there is not a formal exclusion zone around the entrance to the site. Ms Hendry said the pilot had the support of police.

The ACT government committed $260,000 to the trial in last year's territory budget. The ACT government agreed to explore the idea of a fixed-site pill testing trial in the Legislative Assembly in 2020, following a push from the ACT Greens.

The fixed-site trial was originally intended to go ahead in the summer of 2020 and 2021 but it proved too difficult to deliver the pilot in a short period.

The government had also planned to open the centre earlier this year but it was delayed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government would consider whether the trial needed to be extended.

She said the service would not encourage drug use nor would it tell users that drugs were safe to take. She said the service would give advice to people already planning to take drugs about how they could reduce the harm associated with its use.

"The government does not endorse taking illicit substances but we know that people will take them irrespective of our advice," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"Setting up a nation-leading pilot like this isn't easy, there's always opposition but we know that services like these are based on evidence which could potentially mean that a young person who makes a mistake and is experimenting may now have their life cut short."

Opposition police spokesman Jeremy Hanson said the Canberra Liberals had concerns about pill testing but he did hope the trial would go well.

"[Pill testing] will reduce harm for some people, I've got no doubt about that, but it potentially increases risk for others who think that their drugs are pure," Mr Hanson told ABC Radio.

"It may not be mixed with anything but it doesn't make it safe."

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The facility will only open on Thursdays from 10am to 1pm and Fridays from 6pm to 9pm.

Ms Hendry said the decision was made to open the service on Thursday during business hours as people often visited Directions needle and syringe programs during business hours. Friday night was chosen to target people who planned to use drugs while out clubbing or partying.

She said the trial would adapt the hours if needed but said the service was targeted at those who had pre-planned to take drugs.

People will have the option to dispose of the drug at the centre if they choose not to take it. Any drugs disposed at the centre will be further tested by health teams.

The testing centre will emphasise the two major ingredients in the drugs tested and will have a particular focus on identifying whether the drug contains fentanyl.

Fentanyl is an opioid pain medication which is a potentially fatal substance when mixed with drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Following the trial, there will be an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the service by Australian National University associate professor Anna Olsen.

"Understanding the impact of these types of services is especially important given the recent rise in deaths of young people at music festivals and the detection of high potency synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, in seized heroin and cocaine," associate professor Olsen said.

"Our previous work suggests that drug checking services represent a unique setting to engage people who use drugs - in particular, those who may not usually access health-related information about their drug use.

"We will ask participants what they thought of the service, what kind of information was useful to them and whether their behaviours were different after the service, and if so, in what ways they were different."

Pill testing trials have already taken place in the territory at the Groovin The Moo music festivals in 2018 and 2019.

Pill testing was also expected at this year's Groovin' The Moo festival but it was cancelled just days before the event as there were troubles obtaining insurance.

The fixed-site service has been able to gain specialised insurance.

The pill testing site will be located at 1 Moore Street on the ground floor of the City Community Health Centre.

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