IN a perfect world, we wouldn't need to lock our doors at night. In a perfect world, there would be no drought, hunger or war.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And in a perfect world we wouldn't have to contemplate pill testing at music festivals.
But we don't live in a perfect world.
The NSW Government is bracing itself for the release of a coroner's report into drug deaths at music festivals which, if leaked reports are accurate, will recommend a raft of changes to way such festivals are policed.
Already creating particular interest is the possibility that the coroner will recommend pill testing is made available to give young people better information about what they might be about to ingest.
The move has been applauded in some sections and condemned in others, and both reactions are easy to understand.
The great concern of opponents is that pill testing effectively legitimise illegal drugs at music festivals and once we take that step, where would we stop?
But, just as was the case when NSW finally approved safe injecting rooms for heroin users in the 1990s, policy makers must sometimes cede the occasional battle with a view on winning the greater war.
Drug use is a fact of life, particularly around the music festival scene. And this is not the first generation of young Australians to be dabbling in substances they would be well advised.
Risk-taking is a fact of life for all young people and, as a society, we must do what we can to guide them through the stage.
When they fall, when they're injured, and even when they're stupid, we must be there to help. We cannot turn away and say they should have known better.
And if we accept that all other attempts to stop pills being taken into festivals have failed, then a mature society should also accept responsibility for making it safe to take those pills.
Pill testing is a message to our young people that we value their lives more than we value our need to control what they do.
It sends a message that we know they will make mistakes, but we do not believe they should pay for those mistakes with their lives.
It's not an ideal solution and not everyone would be comfortable with it.
But in an imperfect world, we must sometimes settle for imperfect solutions.
And every parent would back pill testing in a flash if it was their son or daughter about to take a deadly dose.
