Tonight, three families are mourning the death of loved ones following the cluster of MDMA overdoses this weekend in Melbourne.
More than 20 people have been hospitalised, and three have died, from what’s reported to be a “bad batch” of MDMA – commonly called ‘ecstasy’ or ‘molly’ – circling Chapel Street, one of the city’s most popular night club strips.
The toxicology reports aren’t back yet, but a “bad batch” means one of two things.
Either the purity or concentration of the psychoactive chemical 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is extremely high; or the drug has been “cut” with – or contains – another substance. Perhaps opioids, perhaps methamphetamine, perhaps something else entirely.
It is possible to test for both these scenarios with pill testing. Only problem being: MDMA is illegal, so the testing of MDMA pills is also illegal.
“It’s wrong to talk about a ‘bad batch’ of drugs, it’s more accurate to talk about a ‘bad batch’ of police ministers who are standing by a policy that is not working,” President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation (ADLRF) Dr Alex Wodak told Mamamia.
"The policy hasn't stopped people taking drugs, or being hospitalised, or dying from overdose.
"Through pill testing, we can identify the main ingredient, the dosage of that ingredient, and if the pill contains any life-threatening additives. But the police ministers won't allow it because it 'sends the wrong message'."
That is the main argument against legalising pill testing - that it might encourage drug use. "The testing of illegal drugs creates the dangerous fiction that they are then safe to consume," a spokesperson for NSW Police Minister Troy Grant told Mamamia.
Top Comments
SS No-one needs to drink or smoke either but that doesn't seem to stop them. Do people really understand the risk? There is inherent risk in drug taking but atm there is an enormously hightened risk which people need to be aware of, and VicPolice's decision to release NO information about what was taken besides 'a bad batch of MDMA', (maybe inform people whether it was in a pill/cap etc.) amounts to negligent homicide in my view (if and when there are more casualties). Just to send 'a clear message'...
I do understand that Victoria Police are just doing their job to enforce laws... but they've got blood on their hands. It's not just the police, manufacturers and suppliers who have blood on their hands, but most importantly the POLICYMAKERS who are continuing the hopelessly failed 'war on drugs' and persisting with the policy of prohibition which, never in history, has actually worked, because it is not realistic. The reality is that people seek to alter their state of consciousness through drugs, nearly everyone does it including all of you that enjoy a beer on the weekend. The distinction between legal/illegal is not so black and white as people. Just because something is legal (alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs...) doesn't mean that it's safe, just because something is illegal doesn't mean its unsafe (ketamine is a prime example). Just because something is legal doesn't make it right, some laws are unjust, and just because something is illegal doesn't make it wrong. Remember that alcohol was an illegal drug in US history, while morphine used to be available over the counter. So the reality is that people take drugs, and the policy of prohibition that is so widely supported creates a black market for drugs that people wish to take, and this market is totally unregulated with no quality control. The reality is that the 'just say no' approach doesn't work - this has been shown time and time again all across the world and even the USA, the home of the 'war on drugs' has legalised cannabis in colorado and washington. They have not seen an increase in use at all and are actually raising an enormous amount of revenue that they can then put into drug rehabilitation/education/community instead of spending money on imprisoning low level dealers. Portugal has decriminalised all drugs, and they've actually seen overall use, addiction rates and drug overdose deaths drop dramatically.
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The reality is that the current approach we're taking to dealing with drugs is not working and is doing more harm than good. These tragic deaths last weekend would not have happened if it wasn't for the archaic policies of our government, which is largely dictated by the ignorance of voters. I'm inviting all of you who are insisting that we should just 'say no to drugs', that 'the responsibility lies solely in the individual and they knew the risk' etc. to come back to reality and take a good look at this problem objectively and rationally. At the end of the day we all want our friends and family to be safe and healthy, maybe our current way of tackling the drug problem is not the only way. Maybe if instead of treating it as a criminal problem and demonising users we could treat it as a health problem, ensure that our population are as educated as possible about the risks of different drugs and ensure that the drugs they think they're taking are the drugs they're actually taking. If we could all let go of our preconceived views on drugs and enter into a rational debate based on current scientific research and harm reduction strategies used in other countries, then maybe we could deal with our drug problem more effectively, and save innocent lives.
My son had an interesting idea about this kind of situation - have a body temperature scanner at these venues, as many taking MDMA die from overheating/dehydration..