Oztix | News | New Study Proves Young Aussies Want Drug Checks At Music Festivals

A new study has found the majority of young Australians are in favour of drug testing at music festivals and would reconsider taking the drug if they were aware of its content.

The study, conducted by researchers from Western Sydney University and the University Centre for Rural Health North Coast (UCRH), saw medical students attend a music festival in 2016 and conducted the survey of 642 people aged 18-30.

read more: What Exactly Happened With Aussie Fest Spilt Milk's Failed Pill Testing Trial?

"We know that drug use is relatively common amongst young people that attend music festivals," Dr Sabrina Pit, from Western Sydney University's School of Medicine, said.

"In this survey, 73.4% of participants reported using illicit drugs in the past 12 months."

Below are some of the study's findings:

54.4% indicated they would be highly likely – and 32.7% would be somewhat likely – to participate in free drug checking services at music festivals
86.5% believed that drug checking services could help users seek help to reduce harm
84.9% believed that drug checking services should be combined with harm reduction advice
When asked whether the results of drug checking would influence their drug use behaviour, participants reported that they wouldn't take substances shown to contain methamphetamine (65.1%), ketamine (57.5%) or para-Methoxyamphetamine (PMA) (58.4%).

"The idea is not to facilitate or condone drug use – but to help people make better informed decisions, and to provide an opportunity for harm reduction information and health promotion messages to be given directly to young people," Research Fellow at UCRH, Dr Jennifer Johnston, said.

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