Queensland will have drug testing sites for the first time, allowing drug users to know the ingredients of the drugs they are taking.
The government on Friday announced it is developing protocols around how the testing will operate, and is searching for a provider to trial at fixed and mobile locations in the state, making it the second state or territory to approve continued testing after the ACT.
The move comes after the state government announced they will relax drug possession laws earlier this week, allowing people carrying personal amounts of illicit drugs three strikes before being convicted.
The government said the testing was targeted at "changing the behaviour of users and reduce the risk of harm from drug use".
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the process would "inform people what chemical substances are in their drugs".
"We know people make better decisions when they are equipped with unbiased information," she said.
"We have had coronial inquests in Australia that have recommended drug testing, but very few jurisdictions have done it."
Ms D'Ath said testing could "influence" drug taking behaviour in the community, "making them more likely to dispose of substances, decrease the amount they take".
"We have to be willing to recognise the evidence that is available globally and take action," she said.
"The other benefit to pill testing is it provides critical information to law enforcement and health services about high-risk substances in the community or drug trends.
"It also allows public health agencies to put out alerts when we find something new on the black market that people are using … how dangerous it is and what it contains."
The testing sites will be based on successful trials in the ACT, which saw many drug users discard drugs that were not what they thought they had bought.
However, the government was keen to point out that testing did not diminish police powers regarding drugs, and would provide critical information about drug use in the state.
"The other benefit to pill testing is it provides critical information to law enforcement and health services about high-risk substances in the community or drug trends," Ms D'Ath said.
The parents of Brisbane man Joshua Tam, who died from a pill overdose at a music festival in New South Wales in 2018 when he was 22 years old, said they were glad lessons were finally being learned from his death.
John and Julie Tam were a part of the campaign that led to the Queensland government decision.
Ms Tam said the occasion was bittersweet, and believed the service could have prevented her and her husband from being "forever-grieving" parents.
"We hope that this will minimise further loss and will hopefully make things different for others and be a better solution," she said.
A 'real-time' picture of drug use
CEO of the the Queensland Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies Rebecca Lang said it was a "pragmatic and realistic" move by the government.
"I think the government should be commended for listening — we've been talking about introducing drug testing for five or six years," she said.
"One of the biggest issues with the unregulated or illicit drug market is obviously people don't come with a label.
"It will really offer the opportunity for people to have a conversation with a health professional about their own particular circumstances, and it's been proved to reduce drug-related harm."
Ms Lang said it would give the government a good look at what drugs are being used in the state.
"It means for the first time we will have a real-time and accurate picture of drugs that are in circulation," she said.
"We often think that people who use drugs are reckless or indifferent to their own health and wellbeing, but these types of services demonstrate that when you can have a pragmatic and realistic conversation with people about illicit substances, that they make better decisions
She said testing had a long history overseas, and the ACT program had already proven effective.
"This has been run in Europe for more than 20 years, so the service model is fairly well established," she said.
"[The ACT] service demonstrated its value in the first couple of weeks of opening by identifying ketamine analogues in circulation that were particularly dangerous."
Opposition says no drug taking is safe
The state opposition declared it would never support pill testing at music festivals in the state, stating the government's new drug testing protocol sends the wrong message to the community.
Deputy opposition leader Jarrod Bleijie told the media the LNP's stance was simple: "There's no safe way to take drugs."
"We don't support a trial of pill testing in Queensland. It sends the wrong message to Queenslanders, particularly in the time of a youth justice crisis," Mr Bleijie said.
