Festival drug arrests as pill testing trial starts

Two men have been charged with drug trafficking at the first Victorian festival to trial pill testing, while one person has been treated for an overdose. or signup to continue reading Police allege the pair were found with traffickable amount of drugs during separate searches on Monday at Beyond the Valley, a festival at Barunah Plains about 50 kilometres west of Geelong. A 28-year-old South Yarra man allegedly had 17 MDMA pills, four grams of cocaine and other pills on him, while a Rippleside man, 27, was allegedly found with 27 grams of cocaine and 15 grams of ketamine.

They were both granted bail and are due to face court in March. Some 35,000 revellers are expected to pack the music festival over five days - the first of 10 events trialling a state government-backed drug checking service over 18 months. Partygoers can anonymously drop off their pills, capsules, powders, crystals and liquids with experts who test them for harmful chemicals before they are counselled on risks of consumption.



Pill testing is legal in Queensland and the ACT, while NSW says it will launch a $1 million 12-month trial in 2025. A man aged in his twenties who had been at Beyond the Valley was treated for a drug overdose at Geelong Hospital on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson confirmed. No information is available on whether he used the service as revellers are not asked to provide their names or other details.

Victoria Police has warned it will have a highly visible presence at the festival, but officers will not be at the pill testing station, unless responding to an incident, as is not illegal to carry a small amount of drugs at a drug-checking service. Regular enforcement powers apply away from the service. "Victoria Police has zero tolerance for drug traffickers and officers will have no hesitation arresting and charging someone for this offence, no matter where it occurs," a spokesperson said.

Testing organisers previously hoped for up to 200 samples through the door each day, with the service operating from 1pm to 7pm and only available for drugs intended for personal use. Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews rejected proposals for similar trials, but current Premier Jacinta Allan introduced the scheme soon after coming to power. It followed 10 overdoses last summer and five separate state coronial recommendations pushing for pill testing since 2021.

Victorian paramedics responded to more drug overdoses in the first three months of 2024 than all of 2023, with many around festivals and other events attended by young people, Ms Allan has said. State parliament passed legislation in October to allow the $4 million trial and a fixed site to open in mid-2025 in inner-Melbourne. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.

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