“Drugs are illegal in the state, yet we’ve made a decision to allow for pill testing at major music festivals,” he said.

“But there’s no perfect law here. There’s no law that we can craft that can do both things at the same time, solving effectively for both of those problems. So the government’s made a decision to live with the contradiction, rather than risk someone dying as a result of having it in place.”

Minns has long been sceptical about the use of pill testing, despite widespread support for its use among members of the Labor caucus, including influential cabinet members including Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Housing Minister Rose Jackson.

The premier said he had been “one of the last in the cabinet to agree to this change”, which was recommended by the co-chairs of the recent drug summit, Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden, in interim advice to the government.

While he stressed there was “no safe way to do drugs”, Minns said he had been convinced by improvements in pill testing technology which allowed it to test for potency, and advocacy from people such as Jennie Ross-King, whose daughter Alex died of a drug overdose at a music festival in 2019, that speaking to healthcare workers could help shift young people’s behaviour.

“I have been convinced, and I think my colleagues have been as well, that the interaction with the health professional – while unusual, because it’s a government official, and drugs remain illegal in the state – could lead to ... a piece of information that leads that person who is going to consume the drug to take water, for example, and not overheat,” he said.

The trial has been widely welcomed by drug reform advocates, who have long been calling for NSW to follow other jurisdictions such as the ACT, Victoria and Queensland in allowing for pill testing.

Ross-King thanked the government for making the change and said many parents would welcome it.

“They may never know it, that their children use this service, but I can assure you that it will make a difference in bringing your young people home,” she said.

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The trial has been slammed by the Coalition, which long opposed pill testing while in government. Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the service would “offer a false sense of security”.

“Even a supposedly ‘pure’ substance can cause harm,” he said.

“Labor and Chris Minns once opposed pill testing, but now support it without providing the evidence behind their shift.”

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