We should not green light the taking of illegal drugs.

MEDIA RELEASE

Pill testing makes kids think drugs can be safe

 With pressure mounting on Labor and Liberal politicians to cave in on pill testing, Conservative Party Senate candidate for Queensland Lyle Shelton has urged them to hold the line.

 “As a father of teenagers, I fully get the compassionate motivation that lies behind calls for pill testing at music festivals.

“No one wants to see kids die but if we green light their illegal drug taking by making them think drugs can be safe, more will do it and more will wreck their lives in the long run.

“Drugs are addictive and harmful and come with an extremely high risk of luring the user into even harder drugs.”

While enforcement was hard and imperfect, Mr Shelton said society must never give up.

“The law isn’t just there to punish people, it is also a teacher. We must continue to send the message that illegal drug use is wrong. That will save far more lives in the long run.

“We must never give comfort to those who seek to peddle illegal drugs to our children. That would be another consequence of government-sanctioned pill testing,” Mr Shelton said.

Media Contact: Lyle Shelton [email protected]