Ecstasy use is on the rise nationally, with the majority of users favouring its crystal form and a high number saying they have 'binged' on the drug.
That's according to research presented at the UNSW's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre's (NDARC) annual symposium on Monday.
Amanda Roxburgh, Senior Researcher with NDARC, presented findings from 13 years of monitoring regular ecstasy users from capital cities across the country and interviewing key experts who have regular contact with recreational users.
“We’re seeing a resurgence in the ecstasy market, [users] are saying it’s much more readily available," Ms Roxburgh said.
"We’re also seeing an increasing number of law enforcement seizures coming into the country.”
She told the conference both users and police say it’s of high purity, backing findings that nearly 60 per cent of users take the drug in its high purity crystal form.
Researchers also found around 40 per cent of users 'binge' on ecstasy - taking the drug over two days without sleep.
Pill testing in Australia
Dr Monica Barratt, a drug policy researcher also with NDARC, said pill testing offers a model that could help reduce harm from drug use.
“It’s about testing the substance and providing the information back to not only the person that submitted the substance, but also the people that work in health, medicine and also to the police," she said.
'It wasn't what he thought it was, and it killed him.'
"We tend to get really delayed information from our monitoring systems. It could be months or years delayed to really finding out what’s in the markets.
"This could be something we could do within a day or within an hour to find out the actual substances that are circulating."
Melbourne mother Adriana Buccianti, whose son Daniel died in 2012 from a drug overdose at a music festival, said when police came to tell her she could not believe it.
Adriana Buccianti with photos of her late son Daniel. (Change.org) Source: Change.org
“When they left I remember going into his room and thinking ‘I will promise you, that it’s not going to be in vain’. I just wanted it to be a catalyst for change and I’m hoping that’s exactly what it’s going to be,” she says.
The first year after his death, Ms Buccianti called for the music festival her son died at to be banned. Now she is calling for pill testing.
More than 37,500 signatures support her change.org petition: 'My son died at a music festival - don’t let any more young people die at Australian festivals'.
Speaking openly
Will Tregoning is executive director of Unharm, a not-for-profit advocating for safe, positive and ethical drug use.
“One of the main problems with illicit drugs is that there is such a fear about illegal drug use - that means the huge constituency that exists for change on these issues is unable to represent itself,” Mr Tregoning told SBS.
He said most people maintain a secrecy around their illicit drug use, and don’t even speak openly to their family about it.
“What it means is that although there are one millions people in NSW who will use illegal drugs this year, we still have this vision that illegal drug users are this very small, very fringe, very minority part of the population."
Adriana Buccianti says she and her late son Daniel were very close and they did talk about taking drugs.
“We had a very open discussion about recreational drug use. When Daniel went to the festival I knew he was going to try some things," she said.
But, as she wrote on the Change.org page, he 'made a mistake'.
'It wasn't what he thought it was, and it killed him.'
“Daniel could have died anywhere in Victoria. It happened to be a very public place. I strongly believe that sometimes things happen for a reason and maybe destiny to make a change."
