Five thousand partygoers will have the opportunity to get their illicit drugs tested for purity at the iconic "bush doof" Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival that begins on Thursday on Queensland's Southern Downs.
A team of analytical chemists from Canberra will work in a pill testing hub at the four-day festival, near Warwick, where they can determine if the drugs are cut with dangerous chemicals or synthetic opioids.
It comes after the deaths of Ebony Greening and Dassarn Tarbutt at the festival in 2019.
It's the first time this type of testing will be conducted in Queensland, and a national first for a multi-day music festival.
Trials in the ACT have so far only gathered data from one-day events like Spilt Milk and Groovin the Moo in Canberra.
Pill Testing Australia's David Caldicott says drug behaviours change depending on how long the party goes for.
"We are seeing novel drugs we have never seen before, but we do not really know what is floating around in Queensland," he says.
"Our anticipation is we will see very different products emerging from the market, so it gives us the opportunity to sample what has not been seen in Australia until now.
"We are getting a heads up regarding drugs and contaminants that might be presenting in emergency departments right around Australia."
Festival organiser Eric Lamir says pill testing is a "no-brainer" to offer at music festivals.
"It's all about harm reduction and there is no judgement," he says.
"It is heartbreaking to think of the deaths five years ago, and we are now back at the same venue, so it is even more sinki...
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