'No drug use is safe': pill testing to become permanent

Premier Jacinta Allan has announced mobile teams will set up shop this summer at up to 10 festivals and events over an 18-month trial.

A fixed site will also open in mid-2025 somewhere in inner Melbourne, close to nightlife and transport.

Legislation will be amended later in the year to allow the trial but possession and supply of illicit drugs won't be decriminalised, with police powers for drug-checking outside the service to remain unchanged.

There were 46 overdose deaths involving synthetic drugs in 2022 and Victoria has recorded a rise in drug-related emergency department admissions, Ms Allan said.

"We can put our heads in the sand like politicians have done for decades or we can change behaviour," she told reporters on Tuesday.

The premier said she had changed her tune on pill testing after watching her two children grow up.

"It does require you to think about the world they're entering into as young adults," she said.

The trial will cost Victorian taxpayers $4 million and a service provider is yet to be selected.

The government has ruled out placing the fixed service within the North Richmond safe injecting room or a community health hub in the CBD.

Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the service would be able to check pills, powders and liquids to identify harmful and potentially deadly chemicals.

"There are some substances that can't be tested through this facility, including cannabis, mushrooms," she said.

Under the legislation, a licensing scheme will be set up to indemnify pill-testing operators and users from liability.

"It's very important from the outset to not present this as giving people the green light," Ms Stitt said.

"No drug use is safe."

The Victorian Greens, Animal Justice Party and Legalise Cannabis Victoria have welcomed the move.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said experimenting with drugs shouldn't be a life sentence, while Greens spokesperson for drug harm reduction Aiv Puglielli said it can save lives.

Swinburne psychopharmacology expert Amie Hayley said the trial was an exciting step forward for evidence-based strategies to support the health of young Victorians.

"This initiative will help save young lives and will be critical in supporting practical and realistic harm reduction reform across Australia," Dr Hayley said.

In January, Ms Allan sought advice from the health department after at least 10 people were taken to hospital following suspected drug use at festivals.

Adriana Buccianti, whose son Daniel died of a drug overdose at the Rainbow Serpent music festival in 2012, praised the premier for changing her stance.

"Having this pill-testing doesn't condone drug use," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"But it's a safety net."

Ms Allan's predecessor Daniel Andrews consistently rejected proposals for similar trials during his decade-long tenure.

Five Victorian coronial recommendations since 2021 have pushed for drug-checking services to reduce the risk of overdose deaths.

Queensland and the ACT are the only other Australian jurisdictions to have legalised pill testing.

Australian Associated Press