Festival-goer overdoses on first day of Victorian pill-testing trial

A young festival-goer has been hospitalised from a suspected drug overdose at a festival where pill-testing is being trialled for the first time in Victoria.

Paramedics were called to Beyond the Valley festival in Hesse, 45 kilometres west of Geelong, on Saturday about 4.40pm to attend to a man in his 20s.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said the man was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

The man was discharged on Sunday morning, with a spokesman for Geelong University Hospital confirming he had suffered a suspected drug overdose.

Festival organisers told The Age it was not possible to determine if the man used the pill-testing facility operating at the festival as it is an entirely anonymous service.

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The five-day music festival is the first in Victoria to have a mobile drug-checking service as part of an 18-month state government trial that will have pop-up sites at 10 festivals over the next two summers to determine the best model to introduce the drug reform.

The mobile site at Beyond the Valley is being staffed by 16 chemists, health and support workers and is testing up to 200 drug samples per day, more than any other pill-testing service in Australia.

The testing allows authorities to detect whether a high-risk substance, such as potent narcotics like nitazenes, has been mixed in with other drugs, allowing authorities to issue health warnings accordingly.

Festival-goers can drop by the testing tent between 1pm and 7pm each day. At the service they are asked some questions about their drugs, including whether they’ve tried this specific batch before and whether they’ve bought it at the festival or elsewhere.

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