PILL TESTING - Bonger Instituut

probably be reached and more pills tested than in a bus parked outside the entrance.
Possibly more new users or more varied groups of users would also be reached. A
potential drawback of inside testing is its practical viability, given that the cooperation
of club managements or party organisers is required. The potential for targeted warning
campaigns is excellent. Confiscation of pills by security staff is incompatible with
on-site testing on the premises – it would be absurd to confiscate pills at the door but
to allow testing inside. Important advantages of on-site testing are that pills can be
tested immediately and that information can be obtained about the users, enabling a
much more effective response in the event of emergencies.
Encouragement of ecstasy use
Not taking ecstasy is often the result of a conscious decision which – as reported in
our interviews with club- and partygoers who had never taken the drug – is mainly
based on concerns or fears about the harmful effects of the drug, and also on personal
preferences. Pill testing was also reported to play a minor role in decisions not
to take ecstasy. The hazardous pills sometimes detected by pill tests and the warning
leaflets distributed by the pill-testing services had influenced some of the non-users
to stay away from ecstasy. A small proportion of the non-users did report that they
had ‘not yet got round to’ taking ecstasy yet, and pill-testing services might conceivably
facilitate that step. The majority of them, however, said they would not avail
themselves of chance opportunities to take a ‘good-quality’ pill. Nightlifers who had
taken ecstasy in the past year reported that their use of the drug was motivated
mainly by curiosity, which was partly stimulated by the ‘good stories’ that go around
about the drug, especially amongst friends.
As in previous European research, the considerable time that elapses between the
first use of ecstasy and the first use of a testing service argues against any causal
connection between pill testing and the initiation of ecstasy use. The testers had not
used a testing service until an average of three years after taking their first ecstasy.
We also found no difference here between testing and non-testing users in terms of
the age of first ecstasy use (around 18 years). Nor did we find pill testing to have any
stimulating influence on the frequency of ecstasy use. In other words, a comparison
between testing and non-testing ecstasy users did not reveal any encouragement of
ecstasy use. This confirms the earlier European research. The question of whether
pill-testing services may nonetheless have an encouraging or legitimising effect in a
more general way on either testing or non-testing users cannot be answered on the
basis of our data.
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