A coroner has recommended pill testing be conducted at NSW festivals and sniffer dogs scrapped after an inquest into drug-related deaths.
Deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame on Friday closed the inquest into six MDMA-related deaths of people aged 18 to 23 at NSW music festivals over two summers, calling a radical change in drug policy.
“I am in no doubt whatsoever that there is sufficient evidence to support a drug checking trial in NSW,” she told the NSW Coroners Court.
“In my view, the evidence is compelling.”
Ms Grahame said pill testing was an evidence-based harm reduction strategy that should be trialled “as soon as possible in NSW”.
He said high-visibility and punitive policing operations at festivals – including drug detection dogs – had “inherent dangers and few if any benefits”, and should be scrapped.
She said the use of strip searches should be limited to circumstances where there is a “reasonable suspicion”.
The NSW Government has reiterated its opposition to pill testing trials after the coroner’s draft recommendations were leaked last month.
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