New South Wales Police Minister Troy Grant declared his state won’t implement pill-testing at music festivals on tonight’s episode of Four Corners, based on information the ABC program later found to be false.

Grant told Dying To Dance reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna his stance was partially based on information from a Netherlands-based study, which found a pill-testing regime was ineffective at saving lives; however, after reaching out to that study’s authors, Four Corners heard the European country doesn’t even have a national pill-testing regimen in place.

They also claimed his interpretation of the study was “simplistic” and “wishful thinking,” effectively neutralising the argument put forward by the minister.

The admission from Grant comes after the program contacted eminent toxicologists and drug experts for their opinions on whether pill-testing might result in significant harm reduction among young drug-takers.

The answers were consistently positive, with ANU toxicologist Dr David Caldicott, Pillreports.com founder Johnboy Davidson, and even NSW’s former Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery throwing their clout behind the proposed testing measures.

The program has already brought scrutiny to the minister via users on Twitter, who have taken issue with the minister’s – and by extension, the state’s – hardline approach to testing illicit drugs.

Many eminent experts support drug testing yet ONE wildly misquoting nuff nuff polly says no way. How can this b? Dangerous. #4corners @ABCTV — alison baker (@alisonsbread) February 15, 2016

Oh, dear. Seems NSW Police Min Troy Grant got facts wrong when rejecting propsal for pill checking at public events. #4corners — Debra Jopson (@DebraJopson) February 15, 2016

#4corners ah the lunacy of NSW police & sniffer dog madness is now all clear. Troy Grant NSW minister of police is a complete imbecile! — Julie Beesley (@joolsshmools) February 15, 2016

#4corners @nswpolice demand more and more money from festivals & get less and less results and still people die @troygrant you have no idea — Alistair Wyatt (@al_wyatt) February 15, 2016

@troygrant pill testing saves lives; people will take the pill without the knowledge, so at least give them the individuals. #4corners — James Grant (@jamestgrant1995) February 15, 2016

The program also revealed that only 2% of Australia’s budget for combatting drug use is focused on harm prevention.

The broadcast represents one of the most in-depth examinations of the issue presented in mainstream Australian media to date, while presenting harm-minimising alternatives that broader society – sadly – isn’t yet willing to commit to.



Source: ABC.

Photo: ABC.