Former Buninyong Labor MP Geoff Howard, who chaired a state inquiry into drug law reform, told The Courier he had seen enough evidence of pill testing overseas to advocate for its trial in Victoria. 

“I have to say I am a little disappointed (in the stance of the Victorian government) and I hope they will continue to review that decision,” he said. 

“No matter how many police and drug checks, people still will take drugs at festivals. We really want to ensure they stay alive.

“Pill testing gives not only opportunity to say ‘that pill is not what you think it is, we recommend you not take it’, but at the same time they can offer some practical advice to young people and give them some guidance on the dangers and issues associated with drug taking.”

READ MORE: Government discussions on pill testing long overdue, says MP at Rainbow Serpent

Minister for mental health Martin Foley confirmed in a statement on Monday the Victorian government has ‘no plans’ to allow for pill-testing at events in Victoria. 

“Advice from Victoria Police tells us it can give people a false, and potentially fatal, sense of security about illicit drugs,” he said. 

Mr Foley’s comments come after revellers at Falls Festivals across Australia were warned of potentially lethal orange pills in circulation through a text message from organisers on Sunday afternoon, the day after the death of a 22-year-old man who took an "unknown substance" at a music festival on the NSW Central Coast. 

READ MORE: Falls Festival revellers warned about 'extremely dangerous' orange pills circulating

NSW opposition leader Michael Daley has signalled the Opposition would consider allowing the testing of recreational drugs at music festivals as part of its commitment to holding a drug summit if elected in March.

The service, which is well established in Europe and the United Kingdom and has been trialled in the ACT, allows festival goers to provide a sample of a substance they may be considering taken to be analysed, identified and discussed with a healthcare professional.

Organisers of popular Lexton music festival Rainbow Serpent have expressed support for pill testing for more than two years.

READ MORE: Rainbow Serpent organisers call for pill testing after drug deaths in Melbourne

Rainbow Serpent Festival marketing manager Tim Harvey told The Courier organisers welcomed the opportunity to work with authorities on any evidence based harm reduction strategy, ‘especially those that have proven to be incredibly successful such as pill/drug testing’, during the January 2018 event. 

Brock Gibson, 21, has attended Rainbow Serpent Festival in past years and he said like any other festival, there were drugs ‘everywhere’. 

He said it was a ‘no brainer’ that pill testing should be implemented at every festival. 

“The zero tolerance is quite obviously not working. The police advertise they're going to these festivals and keeping everyone safe, but there has just been a 22-year-old die and the police were there. You are not going to stop people taking drugs, we may as well make it safer for them,” he said.

“It seems like the people making these rules don’t go to the festivals and see it first hand... These people taking drugs are actually people, they are not just useless druggies. There seems to be a bit of a disconnect.”

Harm Reduction Australia has recommended further pill testing pilots, after an Australian first trial at Canberra music festival Groovin the Moo in April. 

In September the Australian Medical Association called for pill testing trials after two young people died following suspected drug overdoses at a Sydney music festival.

Emergency consultant and Australian National University faculty of medicine senior lecturer David Caldicott said he was ‘puzzled’ the Victorian government remained firmly against pill testing after a state inquiry presented in March recommended it. 

He said the model of pill testing in the ACT included drug education.  

“The first thing we do before we even start talking to the punter is to take them aside and say if you want to be 100 per cent about not being harmed by drugs today you probably shouldn’t use any drugs today,” he said.

“How about we make the focus of everything we are doing not having any more deaths at music festivals. You would have to be something of a psychopath not to agree that would be a good idea. The next step is to ask yourself honestly are we doing everything we can to stop people dying at music festival. If answer is no, why not?

“From my perspective the broader ramification from this discussion is interesting. It brings people into a debate as to how we are approaching drugs in Australia and why we are seeing hard core opposition. In 2007 the independent NSW ombudsman on a review of sniffer dogs at music festivals found them useless and dangerous yet they form the backbone of our approach to drugs at music festivals. What we really need to be doing is talking about how we can bring policies that are known to work rather than policies that have been grandfathered into the system. I think that is one of the scariest things about pill test in Australia for opponents, it represents a discussion opponents on that side of the fence don’t want to have.”

Mr Howard told The Courier he will be attending Rainbow Serpent Festival in January to discuss the opportunities for a pill testing trial with management. 

Despite retiring from politics, he said he would continue talking with members of government to explore the opportunity for pill testing trial to be established in Victoria.

The Victorian Government supports harm reduction education initiatives such DanceWize and will continue to explore options to reduce the harm associated with drugs including through greater capture and sharing of information relating to drug toxicity, according to Mr Foley.