Could a drug-checking service increase intention to use ecstasy at a festival?

INTRODUCTION: Calls to provide sanctioned drug-checking (pill testing) at Australian music festivals have been met with resistance from most governments due to concerns that such services would increase use of ecstasy and other drugs. We investigated that concern and used the Theory of Planned Behaviour to examine the determinants of intention to use a drug-checking service. METHODS: Data were collected over a 3-day period at a music festival in Western Australia. Participants (n = 247; 50% male; 52% aged 25-34 years) were presented with three hypothetical pill testing scenarios: no testing provided, onsite testing provided and fixed offsite testing provided. RESULTS: Neither ecstasy users (n = 212) nor participants who had never used ecstasy (n = 35) reported an increased intention to use ecstasy in scenarios in which drug checking was provided. The combination of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control predicted intention to use a fixed site drug-checking service, while only subjective norms predicted intention to use an onsite service. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: These data do not support the view that offering a drug-checking service at a festival will result in ecstasy use by people who have never used ecstasy or lead to increased use among people who use ecstasy.

Sexual assault evidence collection more accurate when completed by sexual assault nurse examiners: Colorado's experience.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine if sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) provide more effective evidence collection compared with non-SANE-trained nurse and physician colleagues. METHODS: Five hundred fifteen audits were completed by crime laboratory analysts on sexual assault evidence kits submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation from October 1999 to April 2002. RESULTS: Of 515 evidence kits audited, 279 were completed by SANEs. Non-SANE physicians and nurses completed 236 kits. Evidence kits collected by SANEs were more likely to have a completed chain of custody (92%) compared with 81% of non-SANE-collected kits. SANEs also were more likely to have properly sealed individual specimen envelopes (91% vs 75%), to have labeled the individual specimen envelopes (95% vs 88%), and to have collected the appropriate amount of pubic hair (88% vs 74%) and head hair (95% vs 80%). SANEs more frequently included the appropriate number of blood tubes (95% vs 80%), collected the appropriate amount of swabs (88% vs 71%), and included a vaginal fluid slide for sperm motility (87% vs 72%). Both groups prepared slides at a high rate for each penetrated orifice (87% vs 90%) and both had a high rate of including the crime laboratory report in the completed kit (97% vs 93%). DISCUSSION: Studies such as this provide documentation that evidence collection kits prepared by SANEs are more accurate and complete when compared with evidence collection kits prepared by non-SANE nurses and physicians. Additional studies are needed to further validate the efficacy of SANE-completed evidentiary examinations.