Thread by @pharmerfour

So at some point we have to start asking those people who talk about policing as the only option for preventing deaths from drug use at festivals, when will this method start to stem the deaths?

@ACTINOSProject @GladysB @nswpolice

https://twitter.com/DamonHRDP/status/1079334599938002944

If the argument is that the best possible safety is from policing events without drug checking services, then one has to ask, why are there still deaths?

@MartinFoleyMP @JennyMikakos @DanielAndrewsMP @VictoriaPolice

Does the standard of "best possible safety" still allow for a few deaths here and there?

Is this an "acceptable margin" that can't be addressed to matter the level of policing?

Is it a case that the policing just isn't being done to a high enough standard?

I know quite a few police members, & I know how hard they work, so this would surprise me, but the question would have to be asked - if policing is the most effective method, why is it failing people

So after considering these things logically, it leads the sensible adult to the conclusion that health care professionals arrived at decades ago - drug use is a health issue that **happens** to fall within a policing area of operations, but it is still primarily a health issue

As such it needs to be treated as such - this requires a multi-factorial approach.

Just like we would treat a person for a condition using multiple strategies working together, deaths & harms from drug use at festivals (or anywhere else) cannot be addressed with one strategy

Drug checking needs to be implemented - it has been demonstrated to alter behaviour, & this in turn reduces deaths

@mattnoffs @looppharm @HRInews @DanceWize

Until this is understood, until people stop calling on policing to be the only answer, then we have a duty of care to ask - why is policing alone continuing to be ineffective at preventing the deaths of Australians attending festivals every year?