Wednesday the 11th of September, 2024
Victorian Legislative Council
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health. This year there have been multiple reports in Victoria and across Australia of people consuming synthetic opioids, at times without their knowledge and with dangerous consequences. In one case a patient overdosed on vaping THC contaminated with nitazene. This synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than heroine. Nitazene can cause unconsciousness and overdose within an incredibly short time and in small doses, making the risk of overdose extremely high. It goes without saying that a regulated cannabis market in Victoria would help reduce the harms associated with synthetic opioids in cases where people are using contaminated THC vapes. A regulated market assures consumers that they know what is in the product they are purchasing and what the expected effects will be. The result is access to safer products that are not contaminated with things like pesticides and opioids.
These cases of contaminated THC vapes are part of a wider disturbing trend of synthetic opioids entering the illicit drug market in Australia. There is a clear need for government intervention, and one such intervention that can be used is drug testing. Thankfully this government has taken action in this area. They have committed to drug checking at festivals and other wraparound services. However, gaps in the system remain. We need a proactive surveillance system to deliver rapid responses to drug detection in the community. This is where an overdose event is identified and drug testing is conducted immediately, with real-time alerts given to the community. Rapid responses save lives. They inform people of any particularly dangerous synthetic opioids in circulation and reduce harm. Currently when this kind of testing does happen in Victoria the process can take some time. In the end people often only learn of a dangerous substance circulating in the community through the news, often weeks later or not at all. In these cases time is not on our side. The longer it takes to identify these substances the more lives are at risk. I ask the minister: what is she doing to ensure that Victoria has a strong rapid response system for dangerous synthetic opioids?
[Answer Pending]
