This weekend marked the beginning of a profound shift in how we understand and address drug use in NSW.

At Yours and Owls festival in Wollongong, NSW’s trial of pill testing services at music festivals finally got started.

But the sniffer dogs at the gates, and the lack of pill testing services outside of festival settings show how far we still have to go.

For too long, our laws have treated people who use drugs as criminals. Police still use sniffer dogs to intimidate and punish people at the entrance of festivals and in public places across the state.

But people of all walks of life continue to use drugs. If they’re caught, the well-off can afford lawyers who minimise the penalty while people from disadvantaged communities end up with criminal records and risk jail time.

Pill testing reflects a different approach: that people deserve to be treated with respect and given the information they need to make safer choices.

More than a million people in NSW of all ages and from all walks of life have used drugs. Among them, people in their 20s are the most likely to take drugs in any given year. For most of them, it’s a minor and often positive part of their life.
 
But the problem with unregulated drugs is you never really know for sure what you’re getting. And at a time where super-potent substances are only getting more common, there’s a new and alarming level of risk.
 
The ACT’s pill testing service has repeatedly issued warnings about detections of super strength MDMA. In high doses, MDMA can cause the body to heat up. Combined with hot weather, the risks can be fatal.

Now, dangerous synthetic opioids are contaminating all sorts of other substances and causing overdoses. It’s more urgent than ever that everyone can find out what’s really in their drugs.
 
Many parents, including me, are relieved to see our government taking a step forward by starting pill testing services at festivals. The rise of potent and unpredictable substances demands a response rooted in pragmatism, not prejudice. This is a victory for reason, for compassion, and for an evidence-based approach to drugs.
 
But the reality is that many people can’t afford to go to music festivals, and most drug use happens elsewhere anyway.

In recent weeks, NSW issued yet another public alert about accidental overdoses from substances contaminated with Nitazenes. These synthetic opioids are increasingly being detected mixed into or sold as all sorts of other substances. That includes nicotine vapes, illicit cannabis products and MDMA.
 
Our government should take the next step and, like Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, make pill testing services available in community settings too.
 
Should we care more about young people who take drugs at festivals, than we do about people who take drugs elsewhere? Their parents will mourn their senseless deaths just as much. So should we all. And we show that care and concern by committing to keep all of them safe.