Premier reiterates opposition to pill testing after music festival death

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has reiterated her opposition to pill testing after a young man died at a music festival on the weekend, saying the measure would not have saved his life.

Glen Mcrae, a 24-year-old man from Yarraville in Melbourne's inner-west suffered a cardiac arrest at the Strawberry Fields festival in country NSW on Sunday morning after reportedly taking a cocktail of cocaine, MDMA and GHB.

Ms Berejiklian, who has faced mounting pressure to introduce pill testing at music festivals after a coroner's report urged the state government to allow the measure, on Monday repeated her position that pill testing would "unintentionally [give] young people the green light that it's OK to take the drug so long as you test them".

"What might be OK for one person taking a tablet could be lethal for another person. Let's not pretend that pill testing would have saved these lives," she told reporters in Sydney.

While medical professionals and the majority of voters support pill testing, as recommended by Deputy Coroner Harriet Grahame who investigated the deaths of six young people at NSW music festivals last summer, Ms Berejiklian and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews remain opposed.

"This is one thing [Mr Andrews and I] agree on," Ms Berejiklian said. "We actually believe it could actually cause more deaths, by giving people a false sense of security.

"Pill testing will not solve the problem that ecstasy kills. I cannot say that in stronger words."

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian rejected accusations she was failing to show leadership on the issue of pill testing.Credit: Ben Rushton

When a reporter accused the premier of not showing leadership on the issue, Ms Berejiklian said: "What questions would you be asking me if we allowed pill testing, and over summer 10 people died after someone told them there was no impurities in their pill?

"We'd be having a very different conversation. And for every person whose life might be saved by pill testing, if that were the case, there could be 10 others that succumb because they're given a false sense of security."

Mr Mcrae, who was originally from Shepparton in regional Victoria, was a "good guy and was always up for a chat and a laugh", his friend Abbey Macklin said.

"He was very sociable and would always be out and about doing things, but overall he was always really kind to me and I did consider him to be a mate," she said.

NSW Police on Monday said they had arrested 96 people and laid 69 charges for drug related offences during the  festival.

“It’s disappointing that despite the warnings, we continue to detect the possession and supply of these illicit substances,” Acting Superintendent Andrew Spliet said.

More than 20 heads of department at Sydney’s St Vincent's Hospital last week urged the Premier to adopt a pill-testing trial and scrap strip-searching after seeing evidence of a number of "panic ingestions" at music festivals, where young people take drugs out of fear of police and sniffer dogs.

An investigation into police allegedly breaching their strip-search powers is underway and a fresh hearing began on Monday.

"I appreciate the debate that's going on in the community about [strip-searching powers]," said Ms Berejiklian, who told reporters she had raised the issue with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.

She said amnesty bins outside festivals, which allow people to dispose of drugs without facing penalties, were "a really good idea".

"Government has been discussing options like that," she said. "We're looking forward to a whole suite of opportunities to support young people making the right decisions and it’s been an ongoing process."