A coalition of health experts is calling for an urgent meeting with the Queensland government to discuss plans to ban pill-testing services, with fears legislative changes are being rushed through without adequate consultation.
Chief executive of The Loop Australia, the service that ran Queensland’s first permanent pill-testing sites before they were defunded earlier this year, said changes could be introduced to parliament as early as tonight and urged the government to meet with experts before making “irreversible legislative changes that could put Queensland lives at risk”.
“Without these services, people using drugs have no way to know if they’re taking dangerous substances like nitazenes – synthetic opioids far more potent than heroin that have already been detected in Queensland,” Francis said.
“This is exactly the kind of public health emergency where expert voices should be heard.”
Francis said experts had repeatedly requested to meet with the Crisafulli government since it announced the pill-testing sites would be closed, and after they refused to release a taxpayer-funded evaluation of the service.
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The group recently secured private funding to re-open the service, but delayed after the government announced they would introduce legislation to block pill-testing.
AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim condemned the government’s refusal to engage with experts and reiterated their calls for “evidence-backed treatments that save lives”.
“Multiple studies from around the world show this health-based approach, with a focus on education and intervention, is highly effective,” Yim said.
“The government says ‘there is no safe way to take drugs’. If they have evidence to demonstrate this, they should release it, so the Queensland community can examine the data.”
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