When I waved my 22-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son off to the Spilt Milk music festival in the ACT recently, I was really grateful they would be able to test their pills, if they had any.
As a mum of five, I am deeply invested in the health and wellbeing of my children. I have been since those two little lines appeared on the pregnancy test.
The use of sniffer dogs at music festivals has been shown to be ineffective.Credit: James Alcock
I want my kids to grow into flourishing, compassionate adults who care about the world they live in. If they turn out to be, like nearly half the Australian population, people who use a currently illegal drug, I want them to be treated with dignity and respect.
Most of all, like every parent, I just want them to be safe. I want to see them come home from a party or a music festival. I want to know that they and their friends leave in an Uber or a cab, not in an ambulance. Or worse.
Over the upcoming hot summer months young people in NSW will be heading to music festivals right across the state but unlike at Spilt Milk, young people will be denied the same chance to know more about any drugs they might be using and to have a conversation with a health professional about their drug use.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park recently said he was “determined to make sure that our festivals are as safe as possible” Well, Minister Park here are three things you could do right now that would achieve just that.
Firstly, we need to urgently introduce drug checking at all music festivals. The evidence is clear: drug checking saves lives, and this policy is entirely consistent with a number of coronial recommendations. Here in NSW, drug checking may be the first time many people have had a conversation about their drug use, which leads me to the second thing.
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park says he wants to make our festivals as safe as possible.Credit: Rhett Wyman
We really need to have an open and honest conversation about drugs. Our current approach to people who use drugs increases stigma and drives our young people into the shadows and away from a judgement-free conversation. An open and honest conversation means they can reach out to a sport coach or a doctor or dare I say their Mum to talk about their drug use.
