Caps Off
There’s roughly 20 countries around the world supporting pill testing. Here’s who’s nailing it:
rity, the police, the first aid, the ambulance, the state,” McNeill explains. “It needs to be a collective way forward like the discussion to give it a trial. Obviously if it works, it works. It doesn’t, then you can try the next thing but we fail by not trying to change the status quo.” While he is in support of pill testing, McNeill also suggests alternate strategies closer to the model exhibited in Amsterdam, where photos of drugs that have tested negatively are displayed at festivals. “If it comes in, then I would strongly support all people having their pills tested whether their mate got theirs tested or not,” says McNeill. “I think that’s one of the problems in the past. There’s been a test and it’s been okay and people have posted things on Bluelight or these kind of websites saying these pills are bad or these ones are ok, but these ones are ok in this particular batch. But there’s five other batches out there made in different countries or whatever else. And I think that’s the problem, is the information and how it’s used. It just needs to be ‘this pill is bad’ and no mention of if this one’s ok and no publishing about it.” While it’s a debate that will surely continue for a long time from both sides of the fence, Dr Caldicott’s final point is probably a good summation of the youth vote on the issue, referring to the politicians he believes blocked the trial at this point. “This is a brilliant way of completely distancing yourself from an entire demographic of parents and young people, because it looks ridiculous and it looks foolish and it ooks aged.”
The Netherlands The Drug Information and Monitoring System (DIMS) has been running since 1992. Testing has been approved at a national level and information found during tests is used for scientific purposes in addition to harm minimisation.
Portugal In 2001, Portugal made a call to decriminalise illicit drugs for personal use. Funding is now put into their healthcare system and in 2015 the country reported only three deaths by overdoses per million compared to an EU average of 17.3.
Switzerland While the country hasn’t legalised use, there has been local and police support for pill-testing at events since 1995.
THE MUSIC
•
35
•
NEWS