Research suggests that pill testing at festivals does not encourage people to take more drugs. 

A study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found pill-testing services at Western Australian music festivals would not change people’s intention to take MDMA (ecstasy) if they had not used the drug before.

This goes against a common argument used by opponents of pill testing. One of the main arguments against pill-testing at music festivals is that it sends the wrong message to people and gives them permission to take drugs.

Pill testing has been promoted as a harm minimisation strategy for drug use among young people at music festivals for over a decade in Australia and has been trialled twice at ACT festivals in recent years.

The ACT is even planning on rolling out a fixed site service where people will be able to get their drugs checked during business hours.

The study also found people who planned to take MDMA at the festival reported they would not consume more drugs if a pill testing service were available at the festival.

Results showed there was no change in participants’ intention to use MDMA, whether they had used it before or not, in three hypothetical scenarios related to pill-testing services being available or not at a music festival.

The study study showed the biggest influence on a person’s intention to use a pill testing service at a festival was how it was viewed among their friendship group.

Advocates of pill testing services say they give people who are already planning on taking illicit drugs more information about what is actually in what they are about to take as well as an opportunity to provide support and information about testing.

Research from Europe has shown 50 per cent of those who had their drugs tested said the results affected their consumption choices. Two-thirds said they would not consume the drug and would warn friends in cases of negative results.

The study is accessible here.