This recommendation was made because the evidence is clear that drug dogs put lives at risk.
The NSW Government response does not support the recommendation to cease the use of drug detection drugs and strip searches for suspected drug possession.
Drug detection dogs make music festivals less safe by encouraging patrons to engage in risky behaviour such as “preloading”, taking all their drugs at once to avoid detection.
An inquest into the drug-related deaths of six young people, at NSW music festivals over found that high-visibility and punitive policing operations at festivals had “inherent dangers and few if any benefits.”
The coroner recommended scrapping drug detection dogs altogether.
Redfern Legal Centre Supervising Solicitor Samantha Lee said:
"I simply don't understand why the government is ignoring the recommendations of its own Drug Summit convenors.
To keep young people safe, strip searches and drug dogs should be banned completely for suspicion of minor drug possession – not just at music festivals.
The continued presence of police and drug dogs defeats the purpose of the state’s drug-checking trial.
Having police and drug dogs at festivals where there is pill testing will deter young people from getting their pills tested, undermining the harm reduction goals of the scheme.”
