editorial comment In the very sound logic of yet another imbecile, sending a "dangerous message" is more lethal than popping a dangerous pill. Keep up the good work doctor. You would have done well in Germany circa 1942.....

A controversial plan to test the ingredients of ecstasy pills at a Victorian dance party this month has been branded dangerous by the state opposition and Australian Medical Association (AMA).

The Australian Drug Foundation (ADF) has approached Victoria Police and the state government to approve a plan to test ravers' ecstasy pills at the Earthcore event in Shepparton, north of Melbourne, with party-goers immune from prosecution.

Under the plan, doctors would test a small portion of each pill and analyse it later for deadly ingredients.

The tablets, which cost users about $35 each, would be tested for substances such as MDMA (pure ecstasy) or other deadly ingredients, such as PMA or ketamine.

The ADF's Cameron Duff said testing was a good way of reducing the harm associated with party drug use.

''We'll be advising them not to take these things full stop, but of course that's an approach that we've tried now for many years and we're finding that that 'just say no' message really isn't getting through very well,'' he said.

''The point of this research is to get people to think more.''

But AMA vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal said the initiative sent a dangerous message to youths and others.

Dr Haikerwal said testing did not factor in issues such as quantity of drugs taken, the medical condition of ravers or their intake of water throughout the event.

''The concern is that no matter what the quantity or quality of a pill, it's not safe,'' Dr Haikerwal said.

''Regardless of whether you test it to make sure it's not more harmful, it's still dangerous no matter how pure or impure it is.''

A spokesman for Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said although the government supported harm minimisation, it did not condone drug use.

He said the government had not yet reviewed the ADF's proposal and would not rule out the initiative yet.

But it regarded kits available to test drugs as inaccurate, he said.

''The kits could give people a false sense of confidence and therefore add to the danger,'' the spokesman said.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Andrew McIntosh said the proposal had ''no merit'' and called for a zero tolerance on all illicit drugs.

''This is basically the same as supervised injection facilities by stealth,'' Mr McIntosh said.

''It's unacceptable. The community doesn't want it and the government needs to reassure the community that it rejects such an idea.''

Mr McIntosh said he believed putting resources into stopping party-goers taking drugs at raves - bolstering undercover policing to target suppliers - was the best solution.

Ecstasy-testing kits are available in Victoria, but no government-funded body has been involved in offering the service.

The ADF's push is the first step towards legal ecstasy testing in Australia, a huge policy shift for the partly government-funded organisation.

It comes after Red Mitsubishi ecstasy tablets caused two deaths and dozens of overdoses last month.

Every year about 20,000 people head to Earthcore, which takes place from November 26 to 28.

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