Federal MP Meryl Swanson admits she is torn “as a politician and a mother” about whether pill-testing at music festivals should get the green light in NSW.
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The nation’s first pill-testing trial went off without a hitch at Groovin’ The Moo Canberra on Sunday, a day after 40 people were caught with drugs at the same festival in Maitland.
Mrs Swanson’s 18-year-old daughter attended the Maitland festival and the Paterson MP acknowledged she was uniquely placed to comment on the issue.
“There’s part of me that says as soon as you approve wholesale testing, you’re giving it some sort of tacit approval,” she said on Tuesday.
“Another part of me says that if you can test it, you can show young people what they are subjecting themselves to.”
... no one wants to see a child die because they’ve done something they’re innocent about or experimenting with.
- Paterson MP Meryl Swanson
Groovin’ The Moo promotors Cattleyard Promotions approved the pill-testing trial at Canberra at the last minute, after ACT police and politicians green lighted the move.
Volunteers manning the testing tent checked 85 samples, half of which contained substances such as lactose, paint, toothpaste and condensed milk.
Significantly, two samples returned positive results for potentially deadly drugs which have been linked to mass overdoses at festivals in Australia and New Zealand.
Mrs Swanson said the results added to her conflicted feelings on the issue.
“I’m not in the ‘hands down I think it should be tested’ camp,” she said.
“I really feel like there are two sides to this.
“As a parent I feel fortunate that I have a daughter who just isn’t interested, but no one wants to see a child die because they’ve done something they’re innocent about or experimenting with.
“It’s part of the naivety of youth.”
She added the potentially deadly impact of pills meant the issue warranted further investigation.
“It’s a massive issue,” she said. “It’s not like when I was young and people just smoked dope. They’re now subjected to chemicals that can kill them. We can’t just say we’ll check the pills and everything will be fine but.”
Mrs Swanson’s comments come a day after two other Federals MPs, the Liberal Party’s Warren Entsch and Labor’s Lisa Singh, voiced their support for more trials around the country.
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