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Narcotic Detection Dogs (NDDs) are essential tools in the fight against drug trafficking, acting with high precision and improving efficiency at border posts. When trained efficiently, these dogs can detect a great variety of compounds, such as cocaine, marijuana and its derivatives, and synthetic drugs, among others. Most of the knowledge on canine detection processes and efficiency has been determined in experimentally controlled conditions, but narcotic seizures detected by dogs in realistic anti-drug operations have not yet been critically determined in a Country with continental dimensions such as Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the data set concerning the performance, operations, efficiency, and success rate of NDDs used by the Brazilian Customs Authority (Aduana) in the fight against drug trafficking. Narcotic seizure rates increased in luggage and packages detected by NDDs working at border crossings from 2010 to 2020, with an estimated value of over US$ 2 billion in losses to the cocaine drug trafficking business. NDD units also increased most narcotic groups seized in the same period. The number of NDDs and anti-drug operations, and Customs Border Post (CBP) influenced the rates of drugs seized. NDDs provided an increase of 3,157 kg/animal of drugs seized for every new dog introduced into the inspection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Effective control of water leakage is a critical aspect for ensuring the high-quality development of the water sector. In recent years, the utilization of sniffer dogs in water leakage detection has emerged as a promising technology, progressing from laboratory experiments to small-scale real-world applications. Leveraging their remarkable ability to trace chlorine, sniffer dogs have demonstrated an impressive accuracy and high efficiency in detecting underground pipe leaks. This mini-review comprehensively examines the advancements in sniffer dog usage for leak detection, provides an overview of various application methods, and elucidates the conditions and limitations associated with each approach. It also delves into the management mechanisms of sniffer dogs, offering a comparative analysis of different management models. Lastly, this review addresses the challenges inherent in applying sniffer dogs to water leak detection, poses pertinent research questions concerning sniffer dogs' training and the expansion of odour fingerprint, and presents a forward-looking perspective on the subject. HIGHLIGHTS This article summarizes sniffer dogs in water supply pipeline leak detection, providing a cost-effective, sustainable solution.; It outlines four operational modes and three management approaches for sniffer dog-based leak detection while discussing challenges and research directions.; The paper underscores sniffer dogs’ versatility as a tool suitable for underdeveloped regions and integration with modern technologies.; more...

Narcotic Detection Dogs (NDDs) are essential tools in the fight against drug trafficking, acting with high precision and improving efficiency at border posts. When trained efficiently, these dogs can detect a great variety of compounds, such as cocaine, marijuana and its derivatives, and synthetic drugs, among others. Most of the knowledge on canine detection processes and efficiency has been determined in experimentally controlled conditions, but narcotic seizures detected by dogs in realistic anti-drug operations have not yet been critically determined in a Country with continental dimensions such as Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the data set concerning the performance, operations, efficiency, and success rate of NDDs used by the Brazilian Customs Authority (Aduana) in the fight against drug trafficking. Narcotic seizure rates increased in luggage and packages detected by NDDs working at border crossings from 2010 to 2020, with an estimated value of over US$ 2 billion in losses to the cocaine drug trafficking business. NDD units also increased most narcotic groups seized in the same period. The number of NDDs and anti-drug operations, and Customs Border Post (CBP) influenced the rates of drugs seized. NDDs provided an increase of 3,157 kg/animal of drugs seized for every new dog introduced into the inspection systems. more...

Scent-detection dogs have been used for decades to locate drugs, explosives, toxic waste, and more. Scent dogs have been trained to alert for seizures and hypoglycemia, locate cadavers, and screen for viruses, bacterial infections, and numerous cancers. These capable dogs warrant a more significant role in public health protection. The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine whether dogs could be trained to accurately identify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections in humans. In previously published studies, dogs were trained to identify the scent of COVID-19 in inert samples with high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, 2 dogs were trained to identify the scent in live individuals (vs inert samples, as used in previous studies), a faster and more efficient screening method. These dogs tested out at 94% to 96% positive and negative agreement compared to PCR testing. These results recommend the use of scent dogs for public health applications and warrant investigation for other applications beyond COVID-19. This study is included as part of the Currents in One Health series . A partner article by Pellin et al, AJVR, January 2024, describes and evaluates the current research on the utilization of trained scent-detection dogs for the detection of disease within human and veterinary patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article considers the alarming escalation in the use of strip-searching on the part of the New South Wales police over the past decade and its connection with street-level drug policing including drug dog operations. These strategies mobilise a technology of detection which draws police ever more intently into the orbit of the sexual and sexual violation and in ever-closer proximity to the genital, the vaginal and the anal cavities of those it forcibly produces as suspects. I am especially interested in the symbolic, spectacular, gendered and performative dimensions of these 'devices of sexual saturation'; their opportunistic deployment to patrol minoritarian populations (Aboriginal people, young people/minors, sexual and racial minorities) and cast aspersions on their self-sovereign capacities. Framed by the law as technologies of drug detection, these operations are better conceptualised as technologies of abjection devoted to the production of violable subjects as part of brutal ongoing efforts to shore up the authority of self-asserted, stolen sovereignty. A narcofeminist lens brings these gendered dimensions of drug policing into better view. Here, the 'possessive logics' that Aileen Moreton-Robinson implicates in the performativity of patriarchal white sovereignty on the part of the 'postcolonising' Australian state find their pretext and source of legitimation in the rhetoric of drugs and the fantasised sovereign subject it maintains as a requirement for the general functioning of the law: the 'master of her intentions and desires', in Derrida's words. This mobilisation of technologies of abjection under the guise of drug enforcement is part of a longer story about the racialisation of sexuality and the sexualisation of race as biopolitical trajectories that naturalise and maintain settler-colonialism and its worlds. Countering their violence entails forging new solidarities among minoritarian constituencies that articulate, affirm and reactivate the non-sovereign potentials/performatives that inhere in our mutual vulnerability and relationally-constituted capacity for endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Exercise can induce a series of physiological and laboratory changes depending on some factors such as type of exercise, intensity, frequency, and level of training of the dog. This study aimed to evaluate changes in blood count, leukogram, and biochemical parameters before and after each search performed by the animals. Samples were collected before starting the first search (T0), right after the first search (T1), after the lunch break before starting the second search (T2) and right after the second search (T3). The study was based on verifying changes between these intervals, to also assess possible muscle injuries resulting from efforts made during exercise, with the hypothesis of changes in the blood count due to splenic contraction and gas exchange, we sought to verify changes. Six dogs were studied, four of the Bloodhound breed, a male Belgian Shepherd and a female Labrador Retriever that were submitted to search work. Clinical signs of exhaustion or exercise intolerance were not observed in the dogs during the study. In the course of the studies, no alterations were identified that deviate from the normal physiological pattern. more...

Abstract The extraordinary olfactory sense of canines combined with the possibility to learn by operant conditioning enables dogs for their use in medical detection in a wide range of applications. Research on the ability of medical detection dogs for the identification of individuals with infectious or non-infectious diseases has been promising, but compared to the well-established and–accepted use of sniffer dogs by the police, army and customs for substances such as money, explosives or drugs, the deployment of medical detection dogs is still in its infancy. There are several factors to be considered for standardisation prior to deployment of canine scent detection dogs. Individual odours in disease consist of different volatile organic molecules that differ in magnitude, volatility and concentration. Olfaction can be influenced by various parameters like genetics, environmental conditions, age, hydration, nutrition, microbiome, conditioning, training, management factors, diseases and pharmaceuticals. This review discusses current knowledge on the function and importance of canines’ olfaction and evaluates its limitations and the potential role of the dog as a biomedical detector for infectious and non-infectious diseases. more...

Abstract Background Sniffer dogs are able to detect certain chemical particles and are suggest to be capable of helping diagnose some medical conditions and complications, such as colorectal cancer, melanoma, bladder cancer, and even critical states such as hypoglycemia in diabetic patients. With the global spread of COVID-19 throughout the world and the need to have a real-time screening of the population, especially in crowded places, this study aimed to investigate the applicability of sniffer dogs to carry out such a task. Methods Firstly, three male and female dogs from German shepherd (Saray), German black (Kuzhi) and Labrador (Marco) breeds had been intensively trained throughout the classical conditioning method for 7 weeks. They were introduced to human specimens obtained from the throat and pharyngeal secretions of participants who were already reported positive or negative for SARS-COV-2 infection be RT-PCR. Each dog underwent the conditioning process for almost 1000 times. In the meantime another similar condition process was conducted on clothes and masks of COVID-19 patient using another three male and female dogs from Labrador (Lexi), Border gypsy (Sami), and Golden retriever (Zhico) breeds. In verification test for the first three dogs, 80 pharyngeal secretion samples consisting of 26 positive and 54 negative samples from different medical centers who underwent RT-PCR test were in a single-blind method. In the second verification test for the other three dogs, masks and clothes of 50 RT-PCR positive and 70 RT-PCR negative cases from different medical center were used. Results In verification test using pharyngeal secretion, the sniffer dogs’ detection capability was associated with a 65% of sensitivity and 89% of specificity and they amanged to identify 17 out of the 26 positive and 48 out of the 54 true negative samples. In the next verification test using patients’ face masks and clothes, 43 out of the 50 positive samples were correctly identified by the dogs. Moreover, out of the 70 negative samples, 65 samples were correctly found to be negative. The sensitivity of this test was as high as 86% and its specificity was 92.9%. In addition, the positive and negative predictive values were 89.6 and 90.3%, respectively. Conclusion Dogs are capable of being trained to identify COVID-19 cases by sniffing their odour, so they can be used as a reliable tool in limited screening. more...

Background Early screening for COVID-19 is needed to limit the spread of the virus. The aim of this study is to test if the sniffer dogs can be successfully trained to identify subjects with COVID-19 for 'proof of concept' and 'non-inferiority' against PCR. We are calling this method, Dognosis (DN). Methods Four hundred and fifty-nine subjects were included, 256 (Group 'P') were known cases of COVID-19 (PCR positive, some with and some without symptoms) and 203 (Group 'C') were PCR negative and asymptomatic (control). Samples were obtained from the axillary sweat of each subject in a masked fashion. Two dogs trained to detect specific Volatile Organic Compounds for COVID-19 detection were used to test each sample. Results [DN] turned out positive (+) in all the cases that were PCR positive (100% sensitivity). On the other hand, [DN] turned positive (+) in an average of 12.5 cases (6.2%) that were initially PCR negative (apparent specificity of 93.8%). When the PCR was repeated, true specificity was 97.2%. These parameters varied in subgroups from 100% sensitivity and 99% specificity in symptomatic patients to 100% sensitivity and 93% specificity in asymptomatic patients. Conclusion DN method shows high sensitivity and specificity in screening COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The extraordinary olfactory sense of canines combined with the possibility to learn by operant conditioning enables dogs for their use in medical detection in a wide range of applications. Research on the ability of medical detection dogs for the identification of individuals with infectious or non-infectious diseases has been promising, but compared to the well-established and-accepted use of sniffer dogs by the police, army and customs for substances such as money, explosives or drugs, the deployment of medical detection dogs is still in its infancy. There are several factors to be considered for standardisation prior to deployment of canine scent detection dogs. Individual odours in disease consist of different volatile organic molecules that differ in magnitude, volatility and concentration. Olfaction can be influenced by various parameters like genetics, environmental conditions, age, hydration, nutrition, microbiome, conditioning, training, management factors, diseases and pharmaceuticals. This review discusses current knowledge on the function and importance of canines' olfaction and evaluates its limitations and the potential role of the dog as a biomedical detector for infectious and non-infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

COVID-19 outbreak leads to morbidity and mortality. It is undeniable fact that both controlling infection and treatment are important for preventing the transmission of COVID-19. So, diagnosis of early stage of the disease and rapid identification of people who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are vital. Various methods are currently used to diagnose of this disease, however there are limitations for current diagnostic methods such as cost, test results, time consuming, require specialized equipment and expertise. It is specified that many human diseases have a specific smell. Probably each pathogen in individual can influence the released Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) signals/profiles. Tracing changes in VOCs associated with certain disease can be used as unique fingerprints; also, it can provide clues for early disease detection in order to prevent further outbreaks of infectious diseases. Dogs are be trained for smelling/ identifying any scented materials. Innumerable scientific articles indicate the importance of sniffer dogs in a spectrum range of applications. In this study, we scrutinize the properties of trained dogs for detection infected people with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: Drug detection dogs are increasingly being deployed by policing agencies in Australia and elsewhere to home in on people carrying illicit drugs in a broad range of social contexts including at music festivals, on public transport and in a range of everyday urban spaces. Significant concerns have been raised about their limited deterrence and detection efficacy and tendency to increase drug-related health harms including overdose. Yet the complex ways in which these effects play out, and the broader impacts they have on social and emotional wellbeing, are not yet well documented. This study builds on a growing body of poststructural critical drug studies research to explore the complex social, emotional and health impacts of drug dog use in these broad social contexts.Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 people who had been searched by drug detection dogs at or near music festivals and events, licensed venues and public transport spaces in Australia. Participants were asked about their experiences of being searched, how it impacted upon them in the short and long term, and how it shaped their drug use behaviours, sense of self and social relations, including relations with police.Results: This study supports previous findings that these drug dog operations do not tend to deter people from consuming illicit substances, but instead encourage a range of adaptations that increase the likelihood of health harms including overdose. The rationalities underpinning responses to drug dogs, and the impacts of those responses, are shown to be deeply spatial, temporal, social and embodied. More specifically, drug dog deployment is shown to have significant short and long term impacts on social and emotional wellbeing and can produce deep embodied trauma.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the use of drug dogs in these broad social contexts is based on untenable assumptions about the rationalities of deterrence, is producing substantial harm without evidence of benefit, and should be urgently reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Early diagnosis of cancer using effective screening methods is crucial for successful treatment. Recently, much attention has been given to the use of odors emitted in the form of volatile organic compounds as diagnostic biomarkers. Studies on special training of dogs to detect different cancers using various odor samples (breath, urine, cancer tissue) have provided promising results. This systematic review highlights the scientific reports testing canine olfaction to detect cancer, dividing them according to the cancer's primary site. Several lines of evidence suggest that dogs may play a critical role in cancer research and diagnosis, eventually be major contributors to a reduction in mortality for certain cancers. Future directions that this field of research should take include efforts to overcome some methodological weaknesses and a certain heterogeneity of performance found across the different studies. Finding adequate responses to the challenges that lie ahead requires also a clear disclosure of what chemical compounds dogs respond to and the quantity of these compounds. Finally, the welfare of dogs involved in these practices should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Context: This review was undertaken to provide information concerning the advancement of research in the area of COVID-19 screening and testing during the worldwide pandemic from December 2019 through April 2023. In this review, we have examined the safety, effectiveness, and practicality of utilizing trained scent dogs in clinical and public situations for COVID-19 screening. Specifically, results of 29 trained scent dog screening peer-reviewed studies were compared with results of real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid antigen (RAG) COVID-19 testing methods., Objectives: The review aims to systematically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of utilizing trained scent dogs in COVID-19 screening., Methods: At the time of submission of our earlier review paper in August 2021, we found only four peer-reviewed COVID-19 scent dog papers: three clinical research studies and one preprint perspective paper. In March and April 2023, the first author conducted new literature searches of the MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library websites. Again, the keyword phrases utilized for the searches included "COVID detection dogs," "COVID scent dogs," and "COVID sniffer dogs." The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 Checklist was followed to ensure that our review adhered to evidence-based guidelines for reporting. Utilizing the results of the reviewed papers, we compiled statistics to intercompare and summarize basic information concerning the scent dogs and their training, the populations of the study participants, the types of sampling methods, the comparative tests utilized, and the effectiveness of the scent dog screening., Results: A total of 8,043 references were identified through our literature search. After removal of duplicates, there were 7,843 references that were screened. Of these, 100 were considered for full-text eligibility, 43 were included for qualitative synthesis, and 29 were utilized for quantitative analysis. The most relevant peer-reviewed COVID-19 scent dog references were identified and categorized. Utilizing all of the scent dog results provided for this review, we found that 92.3 % of the studies reached sensitivities exceeding 80 and 32.0 % of the studies exceeding specificities of 97 %. However, 84.0 % of the studies reported specificities above 90 %. Highlights demonstrating the effectiveness of the scent dogs include: (1) samples of breath, saliva, trachea-bronchial secretions and urine as well as face masks and articles of clothing can be utilized; (2) trained COVID-19 scent dogs can detect presymptomatic and asymptomatic patients; (3) scent dogs can detect new SARS-CoV-2 variants and Long COVID-19; and (4) scent dogs can differentiate SARS-CoV-2 infections from infections with other novel respiratory viruses., Conclusions: The effectiveness of the trained scent dog method is comparable to or in some cases superior to the real-time RT-PCR test and the RAG test. Trained scent dogs can be effectively utilized to provide quick (seconds to minutes), nonintrusive, and accurate results in public settings and thus reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus or other viruses. Finally, scent dog research as described in this paper can serve to increase the medical community's and public's knowledge and acceptance of medical scent dogs as major contributors to global efforts to fight diseases., (© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.) more...

ABSTRACT The use of body odours, emitted in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), has become the focus of scientific research in recent years. Diseases such as cancer, metabolic disorders, infections and some other diseases can change the components of daily VOCs, often leading to the production of disease-specific VOCs that might be used as diagnostic biomarkers if detected early enough. We summarize here scientific publications (2003-2013) related to the study of VOCs in human diseases. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article works with Connolly's (2004) concept of "emergent causality" to counter the insistence on linear expressions of cause and effect in dominant strands of drug prevention evaluation. I elaborate this concept with reference to recent controversies concerning the policing of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The use of sniffer dogs to furnish the reasonable suspicion required to authorize police "stop and search" procedures has been a key part of this controversy. Substantiated in terms of its universal applicability, high visibility and purported deterrent effect, this practice actually forms part of the complex and evolving environment in which new and more dangerous forms of sex-related drug consumption have emerged. Emergent causality makes it possible to see how any element in a given assemblage can acquire contingent agentic capacities. Grasping these developments as events, or processes of eventuation, sets out an active, engaged and agonistic role for research practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Dogs are known for their incredible ability to detect odours, extracting them from a 'complex' environment and recognising them. This makes sniffer dogs precious assets in a broad variety of security applications. However, their use is subject to some intrinsic restrictions. Dogs can only be trained to a limited set of applications, get tired after a relatively short period, and thus require a high turnover. This has sparked a drive over the past decade to develop artificial sniffer devices-generally known as 'chemical sniffers' or 'electronic noses'-able to complement and possibly replace dogs for some security applications. Such devices have been already deployed, or are intended to be deployed, at borders, airports and other critical installation security checkpoints. Similarly to dogs, they are adopted for detecting residual traces that indicate either the presence of, or recent contact with, substances like drugs and explosives. It goes without saying that, as with sniffer dogs, the use of artificial sniffer devices raises many sensitive issues. Adopting an ethical and legal perspective, the present paper discusses the privacy and data protection implications of the possible deployment of a hand-held body scanning sniffer for screening passengers at EU airport security checkpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abstract: Many odorants related to manufactured explosives have low volatilities and are barely detectable as odors. We previously reported that zinc metal nanoparticles increased rat olfactory epithelium responses, measured by electroolfactogram (EOG), to several odorants. Here, we report that nanomolar concentrations of zinc metal nanoparticles strongly enhanced olfactory responses to the explosives related odorants cyclohexanone, methyl benzoate, acetophenone, and eugenol. Rat olfactory epithelium was exposed to metal nanoparticles and odorant responses were quantified by EOG. Zinc nanoparticles added to explosive odorants strongly increased the odorant response in a dose-dependent manner. The enzymatic breakdown of the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) was prevented by adding the membrane-permeable phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX). This caused the olfactory cilia cAMP concentration to increase and generated EOG signals. The EOG responses generated by IBMX were not enhanced by zinc nanoparticles. Based on these observations, we conclude that zinc nanoparticles act at the receptor site and are involved in the initial events of olfaction. Our results suggest that zinc metal nanoparticles can be used to facilitate a canine detection of explosive odorants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Abstract: Early detection of cancers, although essential for treatment effectiveness, can be difficult to achieve, and some tests introduce additional health risks. New, non-invasive detection methods with greater sensitivity and specificity are needed. Several authors have published research suggesting that dogs may be able to detect lung, breast, prostate, ovarian, and melanoma cancers by smelling skin lesions, urine, exhaled breath, and surgically extracted tumors. We conducted a systematic search using the PubMed and EMBASE databases to identify all known published data on canine scent detection of cancers. Of 531 potentially relevant publications, 11 full text articles were examined, and 5 were selected for inclusion in the review. Two studies involved dogs detecting breast cancer (sensitivity 88% using exhaled breath and 22% using urine; specificity was 98% and 20%, respectively), 1 involved bladder cancer (41% of urine samples detected), 1 involved melanoma (75–85.7% of in situ tumors detected), 1 involved lung cancer (sensitivity 99% and specificity 99% using exhaled breath), 1 involved ovarian cancer (sensitivity 100% and specificity 97.5% using thawed frozen tumor samples), and 1 involved prostate cancer (18% of urine samples detected). One study on ovarian cancer is in progress. Early successes with canine scent detection suggest chemical analysis of exhaled breath may be a valid method for cancer detection. Tests using exhaled breath showed better sensitivity and specificity than with urine. Future research should target other tumor types, and seek to identify what exhaled compounds may signal a cancer diagnosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Background: Sniffer dogs are able to detect certain chemical particles and are suggest to be capable of helping diagnose some medical conditions and complications, such as colorectal cancer, melanoma, bladder cancer, and even critical states such as hypoglycemia in diabetic patients. With the global spread of COVID-19 throughout the world and the need to have a real-time screening of the population, especially in crowded places, this study aimed to investigate the applicability of sniffer dogs to carry out such a task.Methods: Firstly, three male and female dogs from German shepherd (Saray), German black (Kuzhi) and Labrador (Marco) breeds had been intensively trained throughout the classical conditioning method for 7 weeks. They were introduced to human specimens obtained from the throat and pharyngeal secretions of participants who were already reported positive or negative for SARS-COV-2 infection be RT-PCR. Each dog underwent the conditioning process for almost 1000 times. In the meantime another similar condition process was conducted on clothes and masks of COVID-19 patient using another three male and female dogs from Labrador (Lexi), Border gypsy (Sami), and Golden retriever (Zhico) breeds. In verification test for the first three dogs, 80 pharyngeal secretion samples consisting of 26 positive and 54 negative samples from different medical centers who underwent RT-PCR test were in a single-blind method. In the second verification test for the other three dogs, masks and clothes of 50 RT-PCR positive and 70 RT-PCR negative cases from different medical center were used.Results: In verification test using pharyngeal secretion, the sniffer dogs' detection capability was associated with a 65% of sensitivity and 89% of specificity and they amanged to identify 17 out of the 26 positive and 48 out of the 54 true negative samples. In the next verification test using patients' face masks and clothes, 43 out of the 50 positive samples were correctly identified by the dogs. Moreover, out of the 70 negative samples, 65 samples were correctly found to be negative. The sensitivity of this test was as high as 86% and its specificity was 92.9%. In addition, the positive and negative predictive values were 89.6 and 90.3%, respectively.Conclusion: Dogs are capable of being trained to identify COVID-19 cases by sniffing their odour, so they can be used as a reliable tool in limited screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In late 2019, the Deputy State Coroner for New South Wales (NSW), Magistrate Harriet Grahame, handed down her findings in relation to the death of six patrons of NSW music festivals. 179 pages in length, the decision represents a comprehensive attempt to understand recent music festival tragedies. The Coroner found that there was compelling evidence to support initiatives such as pill testing, changing the way festivals are policed (including discontinuing the use of sniffer dogs) and enhancing the overall safety of music festivals. The Coroner also questioned whether, in light of the evidence presented to the Inquest, there is a fundamental need to rethink contemporary approaches to drugs and criminalisation. In its response to date, the NSW Government has rejected the idea of pill testing and indicated that it will continue to use sniffer dogs at music festivals as a drug detection strategy. In one of the few recommendations of the Coroner that it has accepted, the NSW Government has agreed to the use of drug amnesty bins and agreed to a trial of less punitive measures of dealing with more minor drug possession offences via the use of Criminal Infringement Notices., Competing Interests: None. more...