NSW Police has seized over $34,000 worth of drug equipment, including pill testing kits, from a store in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, and people aren’t happy about it at all.
Police have raided the tobacconist and confiscated the kits as well as cannabis pipes, ice pipes and cocaine spoons, with all of it equating to a potential sale value of $34,260.
Given the conversations around pill testing at the moment, and debate surrounding the need for them at Australian music festivals, it’s unsurprising that when police uploaded their finds onto Facebook, people weren’t happy at all.
“You’re seizing testing kits? You guys are the problem and the reason kids are taking all sorts of backyard shed concoctions,” one user wrote on Facebook.
Another commented on the hypocrisy of seizing pill testing kits that save lives when, “Tobacco literally kills about 15,000 people per year in Australia, at a cost of about $31.5 Billion.”
People also responded to NSW Police’s seizure with confusion about what actually made these illegal, with one writing, “That stuff is only illegal after it has been used for the consumption of smoking dangerous drugs.”
Police are yet to respond to the backlash, but the post is continuing to spread with over 300 people sharing at the time of writing, very few with positive words.
It seems the police also didn’t have to go too far to seize the drug instruments. The tobacconist is on the corner of King and Wilson Streets in Newtown, which is literally two minutes’ walk from the local police station.
Check out NSW Police’s original post and some of the backlash, below.
Earlier this year, Greens MP Jenny Leong passed a motion through the senate to introduce pill testing to music festivals, however, it’s yet to have been made legal. Medical experts have agreed that it’s a necessity at festivals, however, political figures are yet to agree particularly NSW Premier Mike Baird who is sticking by, “Don’t take the pills and you’ll be fine.”
Director of drug law reform advocacy group Unharm, Will Tregoning, has told supporters of pill testing to email their local MPs to speed up the process.
