OT: Current Affairs and Politics

[JokerEel]

I obviously have strong feelings on this matter because I go to a lot of festivals and I see kids passed out on the ground at 3 PM and the festivals go until 11 PM.

I swear some of these kids are 15 or 16 and they can't be drunk as you have to show your ID to get in and if you're over 18 you get a green wrist band which means you can be served alcohol, and these kids passed out on the ground don't have one.

Something had to be done and I'm glad they have approved pill testing as making them illegal does not work much like prohibition never worked.

Mate it's good they are doing something about it for those kids that need to take drugs...

Like I have made my point as a parent my kids don't need that at all as they know they shouldn't take drugs.

If it stops parents burying their kids great! They cancelled the festivals out here at the regatta centre because of kids dying imagine if they had tested...

 

[Twizzle]

do you think kids can sneak in/take drugs to a festival but not alcohol?

they sneak in both but its hard to sneak in enough alcohol to cause some one to pass out,

the old tape the flask to the thigh trick is used regularly as when you get inside you see a lot of the kids head straight to the toilets and when you get inside there is tape all over the floor

it can be detected in a body search but the security guys are not allowed to do that, they only ask everyone to turn their pockets out before they go in

 

[Twizzle]

If it stops parents burying their kids great! They cancelled the festivals out here at the regatta centre because of kids dying imagine if they had tested...

exactly my point, those kids could still be alive

 

[Incorrect]

where ? there are no such facilities in the communities

Well thats f**ked then.... Maybe until the testing is set up these people should accept some personal responsibility and abstain. And if they can't because they're addicted maybe get some professional help which might help steer them away from these illegal substances and then pill testing becomes a moot topic....

 

[JokerEel]

debating the issue at hand

Cmon quote the whole post if debating the issue at hand is what you are good at

 

[Twizzle]

Well thats f**ked then.... Maybe until the testing is set up these people should accept some personal responsibility and abstain. And if they can't because they're addicted maybe get some professional help which might help steer them away from these illegal substances and then pill testing becomes a moot topic....

there is one at the cross run by volunteers but like I said, none in the communities

I've never taken X or the like but I don't believe it's addictive, no more than say you or I having too much to drink at an outing

again I draw the comparison with prohibition, it didn't work and yes some people need help

 

[bazza]

they sneak in both but its hard to sneak in enough alcohol to cause some one to pass out,

the old tape the flask to the thigh trick is used regularly as when you get inside you see a lot of the kids head straight to the toilets and when you get inside there is tape all over the floor

it can be detected in a body search but the security guys are not allowed to do that, they only ask everyone to turn their pockets out before they go in

can also drink before you go in

 

[Gary Gutful]

the old tape the flask to the thigh trick is used regularly as when you get inside you see a lot of the kids head straight to the toilets and when you get inside there is tape all over the floor

F**k, I thought people were eating tape. That makes way more sense.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Well thats f**ked then.... Maybe until the testing is set up these people should accept some personal responsibility and abstain. And if they can't because they're addicted maybe get some professional help which might help steer them away from these illegal substances and then pill testing becomes a moot topic....

I don’t think the issue is addiction. I’d say it’s more likely peer pressure.

 

[Gronk]

Pill testing gives expert medicos access to wary / hesitant fesitval goers. Studies show that one on one consultations that find even non-tainted drugs can end up in the bin anyway. It’s all about harm reduction.

I simply don’t get the opposition fella’s position that “there is no evidence that it saves lives”, when they are actually voluntarily binning home pressed pills or dangerous prescription drugs.

Pill testing is not condoning use. There are still sniffer dogs outside. They are still arresting dealers. But if you attack this problem with brute-force, no kid will come forward. They will still take them though.

Music festival drug checking: evaluation of an Australian pilot program - Harm Reduction Journal

Background This paper explores the feasibility of delivering a music festival-based drug checking service in Australia, evaluating service design and stakeholder acceptability. Methods Questionnaire and interview data were collected from adult service users and key stakeholders. A mixed methods...

link.springer.com

There seems to be two ways of attacking this problem. Pill testing, which involves educating, treating the users like adults OR going down the zero tolerance path of the Tony Abbott days, when he just wanted all in possession arrested.

 

[Twizzle]

can also drink before you go in

yeah, true, they open at around 10 so you'd have to be pretty keen

 

[Twizzle]

There are still sniffer dogs outside. They are still arresting dealers.

I haven't seen sniffer dogs for a few years now. They used to have them at the big events like Big Day Out and Soundwave, which is now Good Things, but they generally only detect when some one has weed in their possession which the cops give less shits about now days. You can smell it from the minute you walk in till the minute you leave, especially if you're up close in front of the bands.

Dogs can detect pills but its harder and they are easier to mask, they can also detect prescription pills but the cops cant tell the difference so its problematic.

I think with all the resources they have to bring in just to use sniffer dogs, and bust a couple of kids with a few grams of weed in their pocket, its probably not worth it. That's just an opinion, btw, I have no info on why they don't use them much anymore, or at least I don't see them anymore.

My info comes from TripleJ and TripleJ Hack (Insta) and going to a lot of festivals.

 

[bazza]

I haven't seen sniffer dogs for a few years now. They used to have them at the big events like Big Day Out and Soundwave, which is now Good Things, but they generally only detect when some one has weed in their possession which the cops give less shits about now days. You can smell it from the minute you walk in till the minute you leave, especially if you're up close in front of the bands.

Dogs can detect pills but its harder and they are easier to mask, they can also detect prescription pills but the cops cant tell the difference so its problematic.

I think with all the resources they have to bring in just to use sniffer dogs, and bust a couple of kids with a few grams of weed in their pocket, its probably not worth it. That's just an opinion, btw, I have no info on why they don't use them much anymore, or at least I don't see them anymore.

My info comes from TripleJ and TripleJ Hack (Insta) and going to a lot of festivals.

I thought the sniffer dogs were a left over from the Olympics where they trained up a bunch and then had excess
I guess they are back down to normal levels now

 

[Gronk]

I haven't seen sniffer dogs for a few years now. They used to have them at the big events like Big Day Out and Soundwave, which is now Good Things, but they generally only detect when some one has weed in their possession which the cops give less shits about now days. You can smell it from the minute you walk in till the minute you leave, especially if you're up close in front of the bands.

Dogs can detect pills but its harder and they are easier to mask, they can also detect prescription pills but the cops cant tell the difference so its problematic.

I think with all the resources they have to bring in just to use sniffer dogs, and bust a couple of kids with a few grams of weed in their pocket, its probably not worth it. That's just an opinion, btw, I have no info on why they don't use them much anymore, or at least I don't see them anymore.

My info comes from TripleJ and TripleJ Hack (Insta) and going to a lot of festivals.

My bad. I assumed so because there are sniffer dogs at Bondi Junction railway station at the top of the escalators maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

So if you are bringing your stash in from the west to sell gents, best take an uber.

 

[Twizzle]

My bad. I assumed so because there are sniffer dogs at Bondi Junction railway station at the top of the escalators maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

So if you are bringing your stash in from the west to sell gents, best take an uber.

really ? sniffer dogs at train stations ?

lucky we don't have trains up here

 

[bazza]

My bad. I assumed so because there are sniffer dogs at Bondi Junction railway station at the top of the escalators maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

So if you are bringing your stash in from the west to sell gents, best take an uber.

drug king pins catch the train

 

[Gronk]

drug king pins catch the train

 

[Obscene Assassin]

really ? sniffer dogs at train stations ?

lucky we don't have trains up here

That's not the worst thing cops do at police stations

NSW police strip searched 1,546 children in seven years

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) has released a new report that reveals over a thousand children (aged 10-17 years) have been strip searched by NSW Police within a seven year period from June 2016 to July 2023. The report written by RLC solicitors, Samantha Lee and Josh Raj -‘The Need for Reform...

rlc.org.au

 

[Bandwagon]

I don’t think the issue is addiction. I’d say it’s more likely peer pressure.

Nah, some maybe, but teenagers are learning shit and their place in the world, they also have a high tolerance for risk because that part of their brain is undeveloped, so they will try shit.

Some will, some won't, like anything else. Just like some will go to festivals and some won't. Some will grow up to be Young Liberals, I mean how f**ked up is that?

Well thats f**ked then.... Maybe until the testing is set up these people should accept some personal responsibility and abstain. And if they can't because they're addicted maybe get some professional help which might help steer them away from these illegal substances and then pill testing becomes a moot topic....

Personal responsibility?

Folks will do shit, we can choose to clutch pearls over it, or be proactive and attempt to make shit safer.

Abstain isn't a message any merkin bar your Reverend Lovejoy's wife type is gonna pay heed to.

 

[Bandwagon]

I haven't seen sniffer dogs for a few years now. They used to have them at the big events like Big Day Out and Soundwave, which is now Good Things, but they generally only detect when some one has weed in their possession which the cops give less shits about now days. You can smell it from the minute you walk in till the minute you leave, especially if you're up close in front of the bands.

Dogs can detect pills but its harder and they are easier to mask, they can also detect prescription pills but the cops cant tell the difference so its problematic.

I think with all the resources they have to bring in just to use sniffer dogs, and bust a couple of kids with a few grams of weed in their pocket, its probably not worth it. That's just an opinion, btw, I have no info on why they don't use them much anymore, or at least I don't see them anymore.

My info comes from TripleJ and TripleJ Hack (Insta) and going to a lot of festivals.

Also false positives leading to invasive strip searches of children eventually proved problematic