The Victorian government has recently opened a new permanent drug testing site in Fitzroy. It will welcome its first students this coming August. This advanced facility is home at 95 Brunswick Street. Its goal is to provide a smart, safe, and harm-reducing environment for MDMA users and those who use other psychoactive substances. The federal government invested $4 million in this initiative, aligned with a wider strategy of promoting harm reduction.
The decision to create a permanent site follows a successful trial of pill testing conducted at five music festivals during the summer. This trial brought to light that MDMA was the third most popular drug identified in nearly 1,400 tested samples. Of those who completed the test, 91% were between the ages of 18 – 30 years old.
As expected, the health impacts of the trial’s findings proved to be enormous. Perhaps most alarming, MDMA was detected in 11% of samples that differed from what users expected entirely. Consequently, almost one-third of users reported they would choose lower doses of MDMA moving forward. Further, 65% of users who went through mobile testing said they had their first harm reduction dialogue with a health provider. This conversation was specifically around MDMA and substances like it.
The Fitzroy facility will be operational on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is located in a perfect location, near the heart of all nightlife action, access to great public transport, and essential healthcare and social services that MDMA users usually utilize. Our ultimate goal is to get many more Victorians into direct contact with drug testing and other health resources.
Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt is directly involved in the push. Her dogged advocacy to include it focuses on how it can incentivize safer decisions among youth.
“No drug is safe, but with testing and open, health-focused conversations, we are helping Victorians make more informed and safer choices.” – Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt
Stitt emphasized the importance of the trial in figuring out what drug users needed, explaining ,
“Our pill testing trial has already shown young people want the information that could keep them safe and now we’ll support even more Victorians with our fixed site service in Fitzroy.” – Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt
Creation of this new permanent drug use testing site ever forward with a compassionate and proactive response to substance use. Its goal is to prevent harm and promote understanding through an informed dialogue around drug use. This is a reasonable approach that serves to deliver better public health outcomes for all Victorians.
