ACT Greens launch petition to lobby Labor for pill testing at festivals

Through the 'Keep Canberra Safe' campaign, Mr Rattenbury will call on his colleagues in the Barr government to commit to a territory-supported pill testing trial, which would allow medical professionals to test illegal drugs like ecstasy or MDMA for dangerous substances on-site.

"The law and order approach to drug use hasn't worked, and across Australia people are getting sick, and dying as a result," Mr Rattenbury said.

"The ACT has a real opportunity as a progressive jurisdiction to lead the way in harm minimisation, and influence other states and territories to follow suit."

Last year both ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals were reluctant to endorse pill testing, despite public health experts proclaiming it helped protect festival-goers.

However ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr would not rule out introducing the practice when asked about it in January, saying the government was constantly looking at ways to reduce harm, supply and demand of illicit drugs.

But on Wednesday, he questioned the aim of the Greens campaign.

"A health-focused and evidence-based policy doesn't usually start with one political party making a political demand on another political party," Mr Barr said.

"There is a huge and complex range of legal and health implications that needs to be considered before any formal pill testing service could operate safely. It is naive and irresponsible to pretend these issues don't exist.

"What does a 'government-supported pill testing trial' actually look like? Are the Greens proposing the government validates that pills are safe?"

There have been no deaths from overdoses at Canberra music festivals but last month more than 20 people were left fighting for their life in Melbourne, after a mass overdose at the Electric Parade Music Festival.

Two Hunter region men were also "cooked from the inside" after overdosing on synthetic drugs.

"The reality is that most drug takers are unaware of the origin and chemical make-up of what they put into their body. For example, the MDMA content in an ecstasy tablet can vary widely and new synthetic drugs are constantly appearing on the market," Mr Rattenbury said.

"Even more concerning is that many pills contain a range of substances from tranquilisers to amphetamines, which means users are effectively playing Russian roulette every time they take something.

"We have to accept that despite all the efforts on enforcement and education, some young people still take illicit drugs – and in this situation the right thing to do is to try to minimise the tragic harm and deaths that can result."

There is no law stopping the creation, possession or supply of drug-testing kits but the possession of illicit drugs is an offence.

Despite this, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation Dr Alex Wodak last year foreshadowed plans to push ahead with pill testing despite the threat of police charges.

However the plans are yet to materialise because of the potential for law enforcement to indefinitely confiscate the $50,000-plus equipment required to analyse the drugs, Dr Wodak said.

Dr Wodak said he hoped politicians in the ACT "plucked up the courage" to heed calls for pill testing as arguments against it did not make sense "on a common sense level".

"Since when has ignorance been a protection for public health?" Dr Wodak said.

"The more information people have, whether it's on the bottle of wine they buy or their breakfast cereal, the better prepared they are to make an informed choice. Some will, some won't but at least the options are there."

Sign the petition at: keepcanberrasafe.org.au