Last week Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said a group of medical professionals planned to begin pill testing at festivals, despite ongoing opposition from the NSW government and police force.

Canberra-based harm-minimisation expert Doctor David Caldicott said the group aimed to operate in spaces where they would have the greatest impact, which included events in Victoria.  “I want to trial it where everybody is happy to do it.  The question is where would it would be helpful.”

Dr. Caldicott said a festival such as Rainbow Serpent in Lexton would provide an ideal location to trial the initiative.

The state-of-the-art pill testing kits the group will use cost around $50,000, which they aim to crowd fund in the coming weeks.  

It is expected the group will need to raise around $100,000 to run the program.

Since making the announcement late last week, the group has come under significant criticism from the NSW government and the NSW Police, with NSW deputy premier Troy Grant saying doctors could face manslaughter charges if pills they had checked turn out to be lethal.

Rainbow Serpent director Tim Harvey said he understood the frustration of medical experts who were looking to minimise the harm done by illicit substances.  “It’s important to listen to what the experts have to say.  You have got to forget about ideology and put Australian lives first.”

While Mr Harvey said he was supportive of the notion of on-site pill testing at Rainbow Serpent, he said it would be unlikely to go ahead if it did not have the blessing of emergency services.

“We don’t often do things without first consulting with emergency services.”

His statement comes after 34-year-old man Daniel Buccianti died of a drug overdose at the festival in 2012.

Mr Buccianti’s mother Adriana Buccianti has since become a staunch advocate for pill testing, saying the process would help inform festival-goers as to what they were actually taking.

“If people understand they shouldn’t be taking these things because it might harm or kill them, you can then start educating them,” she said.

In a statement state mental health minister Martin Foley said the Victorian government had no plans to introduce pill testing, but said the government “supports the Parliamentary Inquiry into laws concerning illicit and synthetic drugs.”

While Victoria Police declined to answer how they would handle medical professionals if a drug testing facility was set up inside festival grounds, a statement supplied to The Courier said “drug testing raises a number of legal and health issues that require consideration as the supply of illicit substances remains illegal.

“There is currently limited data on the effectiveness of pill testing in Australia,” the statement read.