Pill testing essential for harm minimisation

Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, ABC Radio Gold Coast, Mornings with Sarah Cumming, Thursday 21 March 2024

Subjects: Vaping bans and pill testing

SARAH CUMMING: Big changes to ban vapes. They will be only on prescription to help people quit smoking. Queensland's peak health association has thrown its support behind this next stage of the Federal Government's crackdown on vaping. Australian Medical Association Queensland's President, Dr Maria Boulton, has spoken to Gemma Sapwell and says vaping has become a substantial problem in our schools.

DR MARIA BOULTON: AMA Queensland supports the introduction of these laws and we actually presented in front of the Queensland Parliament, together with the Cancer Council and the Lung Foundation, because we're very worried about the effects that vapes have on health. We're also worried about how many children and adolescents have access to vapes, and the fact that vapes are a gateway drug to smoking.

GEMMA SAPWELL: How hard do you think it's going to be to stamp them out?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Like with everything, I'm sure it'll be a challenge, and that will be up to the authorities, the legislation and both levels of government. But we really have no choice. When you speak to parents and teachers, they're all very concerned about the number of children and adolescents who are vaping. They're very concerned about the vapes themselves – they're sold in fruity flavours, in bright colours that are really targeted at children. And they're also very concerned about the emerging evidence that vapes can harm the lungs, can harm the heart, can cause seizures. And, if the liquid is ingested, it can be toxic.

GEMMA SAPWELL: Mark Butler spoke this morning about how it has particularly targeted young people and students. Can you tell us a bit more about how much of a problem it is in Queensland schools at the moment?

DR MARIA BOULTON: I think that if you speak to most parents and teachers, they would have seen some evidence of vaping at schools. And we know that a third to a half of different aged school children have had access to vapes, and they're too easy to access. They are marketed at children and they're also quite cheap and available. And that's the trouble, isn't it? It seems that we're a step behind when it comes to legislation and regulation. It seems that vapes are quite prominent already in the community, and that is why the government needs to act now, and they need to act decisively so that we don't have a new generation of children becoming adults, addicted to vapes or moving on to smoking addiction.

It's a real shame, because when it comes to smoking, Australia leads the way in smoking cessation and smoking rates have declined. And it's really important that if there are people out there who do vape and have issues with addictions to vaping or smoking, that the government ensures that they have the adequate Medicare rebates to get access to see their GP, to talk about ways of helping them cease those habits.

GEMMA SAPWELL: Just on another issue, on pill testing. We know this Easter weekend there's a festival in Queensland, Rabbits Eat Lettuce where there's going to be a pill testing trial. What are your thoughts on that?

DR MARIA BOULTON: We do support pill testing. AMA Queensland put together a group of medical experts recently and from that we developed the drug law reform. We believe that pill testing is really important for harm minimisation. It's really important for people to understand what they're taking. Also, pill testing is really an opportunity for people to be offered an opportunity to speak to someone about what they're doing, minimise the harm that way and be provided with resources and helplines that they can access if they need to.

GEMMA SAPWELL: There are growing calls for it to be introduced in New South Wales for the upcoming Splendour in the Grass festival, which happens in July. Do you think the New South Wales Government needs to do more in relation to that?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Look, absolutely, it makes sense to us and that's why we're supportive of it in Queensland. At the end of the day, it will be up to the New South Wales Government. But the work on drug law reform has been really excellent work and it looks at helping people stopping ingesting, smoking and injecting all those recreational drugs. Rather than, having a criminal response, it actually ensures that people have access to a therapeutic response, which is what they need.

GEMMA SAPWELL: In relation to pill testing, there's some health officials that say it's not a silver bullet and that it could encourage risky behaviour. What's your response to that?

DR MARIA BOULTON: There's no evidence of that, from what the overseas experience is. And of course, it's not everything. It needs to be accompanied by educational campaigns. It needs to be accompanied by ensuring that people have access to drug, alcohol and other drug services. It needs to be accompanied by ensuring that people have support. So, it's not the only tool. It is a tool, but it forms a larger part of what needs to be done and funded so that people can stop risky behaviour.

SARAH CUMMING: That is Dr Maria Boulton there, President of the Australian Medical Association of Queensland chatting to the ABC's Gemma Sapwell.