Melbourne mother's grief leads to fight for pill-testing

By HAYLEY PERRIN

A grieving Melbourne mother’s petition for safer drug testing policies at Australian music festivals has received more than  57,050 signatures and taken her to Canberra to discuss the issue with MPs.

Her plea for pill-testing received a major boost yesterday when former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer and Matt Noffs, CEO of the Ted Noffs foundation, launched the Take Control campaign to push for the states to support drug testing.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Mr Palmer referred to the deaths of two people at the Defcon.1 music festival this months, despite a heavy police presence targeting drugs.

“We have to agree to commence drug testing at public gatherings ... zero tolerance leads to the needless loss of young lives."

Adriana Buccianti lost her only son Daniel in 2012 when he took LSD at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in Victoria.

• You can sign the petition HERE until October 1.

Daniel’s death, and that of 19-year old woman at a Sydney festival soon after, led Ms Buccianti to becoming a drug reform activist, advocating for pill-testing at Australian festivals.

“People will take drugs. It is as simple as that and no one is going to stop,” she said.

“So if we have safe pill testing, it will wipe out the criminal element, you will know what you are getting is a safe thing to take and it is going to save lives.”

Her 34-year-old son was found dead after having an adverse reaction to the drug early one morning of the festival.

“There was one death after another and I thought, ‘this is ridiculous’,” Ms Buccianti said. She started a petition on Change.org calling for the introduction of pill-testing.

After starting the petition, a Liberal MP in Canberra wanted to meet her to discuss it, so she turned to GoFundMe in May this year to raise the money to go. 

In her GoFundMe plea, she said her "world fell apart" when she received the call telling her  that her son had died.

"It's a call I'm determined never to take again when my grandchildren get old enough to attend festivals."

She said the Mps she met in Canberra “were very open to the idea and were very supportive”.  “But there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Australia does not have a policy of supporting pill-testing, though it has been trialled in NSW this year. 

A Victorian Parliamentary committee released an inquiry into drug law reform early this year, which recommended it be introduced. 

The Victorian Government has so far said it is in support of other harm reduction strategies at public events such as increased education and “chill-out”spaces.

Alcohol and Drug Foundation spokeswoman Laura Bajurny said there was little support for pill-testing because drug testing policies often caused controversy and polarisation.

“There is a lot of tension between people who want to see harm minimisation programs like drug checking implemented and people who don’t,” she said.

Until there is some government support, Ms Buccianti suggests people who wanted to take drugs at a festival should take smaller doses, make sure they are with people and to buy their own drug-testing kits.