Australian state bans purity testing of recreational drugs

The Australian state of Queensland has banned drug testing for recreational use, prompting warnings from health professionals that the move could put lives at risk.

Queensland ranks third among the regions with the highest drug use in Australia, according to the latest government data, with almost one in five people admitting to using drugs in the last 12 months.

The state government announced Thursday it would ban funding for tests that check the chemical purity of drugs so users can know if they have been mixed with other harmful substances.

Queensland Health Secretary Tim Nicholls said the government has a "zero-tolerance approach to illicit drugs."

"There is no safe way to use drugs," he said. "Drug testing services send the wrong message to Queenslanders."

Cameron Francis, director of the non-profit The Loop Australia, a chemical testing service operating in Queensland, told AFP he was "disappointed and saddened" by the decision.

"Without a service like pill testing, we have no idea what's circulating until it's too late," he told AFP.

The organization ran government-funded tests in Queensland for a year and analyzed nearly 1,200 samples, according to Francis.

One in seven samples was discarded after testing, while one in three people were referred to other health services, he explained.

The Australian drug market is seen as increasingly dangerous with the rise in the use of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, he warned.

Nearly 3.9 million people in Australia aged 14 and over – roughly 18% of the population – used illegal drugs in the last year, according to official figures.

lec/oho/rsc/cjc/atm/fp