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New Local Australian Policy to Allow "Stop and Search" for Drugs Without Cause

The policy has been described as a "zero-tolerance" approach to drug users at music festivals.
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According to a report from the Herald Sun in Victoria, Australia and the Daily Mail, Victorian police and the state government are looking to enact a new, zero-tolerance policy toward drug users at music festivals. In particular, this new change would allow the police to stop and search attendees at music festivals or similar events without reason. Currently, police officers need "reasonable suspicion" that someone is under the influence or selling drugs before a search. According to the Daily Mail, the government plans to target, "drug drivers, 'bush doof' ravers who party too far away from medical treatment if things turn sour and organisers of large events that don't provide adequate help to festival-goers." "This is about protecting lives and ensuring music festivals are great places for young people to get together – not places for tragedies," said Police Minister Lisa Neville to the Herald Sun. Pill testing, an increasingly more utilized harm reduction option at festivals and events, "fell to the wayside." Neville told the Herald Sun this is because, "not every drug can be effectively tested." Drug overdoses have doubled in the area over the last five years, with paramedics responding to more than 30 drug overdoses per day. More than 200 people were arrested on drug charges in January at Australia's Field Day music festival.

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