As WA has grappled with how to solve what has widely been labelled a "methamphetamine crisis", the McGowan Government asked some of the state's best and brightest for help.

That taskforce — consisting of experts from the fields of science, medicine and policing, among others — responded with a 294-page report late last year that made dozens of recommendations it said would help ease a problem that has taken far too many West Australian lives.

Most of those, such as boosted drug and alcohol education in schools and improved support services, were warmly received.

But it also called for a major rethink of how WA approaches its drug fight.

"There needs to be a comprehensive public consideration of the ways we treat currently illegal drugs in our community, which recognises the limitations of criminalisation and imprisonment of drug users and considers alternative non-prohibition models," the report stated.

"The taskforce believes the best way to do this is through a bipartisan Parliamentary Committee."

Yet within minutes of the report being publicly released, those experts saw that recommendation emphatically shot down.

"We are not going to soften our approach to illicit drug use," Premier Mark McGowan said.

Absolute pill testing ban remains in WA

The WA Government has been careful to maintain a "tough on drugs" image and that has again been on display as debate about pill testing has flared across the country, following a spate of substance-related deaths at music festivals.

The WA Government is refusing to introduce pill testing at music festivals.

The Premier is adamant pill testing will not happen in WA

"If I genuinely thought it would save lives I'd say it was a good idea, but I don't," Mr McGowan said last month.

"I just can't see that going to save lives, in fact I think it could actually risk lives."

Sorry, this audio has expired Pill testing at Festivals - Does it send a message it's ok to take drugs?

That move put him at odds with his Labor colleagues in New South Wales, which is at the centre of the festival drug debate.

NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley said pill testing was not "off the table" amid a growing campaign for its introduction.

Call for open-minded approach

Closer to home, there are others frustrated by the refusal to look at pill testing.

"The 'don't take drugs' message has been used for decades and does not work," one WA Labor MP, a supporter of pill-testing, told the ABC recently.

"I'd like the Government to take a more open-minded approach to the issue."

Mark McGowan thinks pill testing "could actually risk lives". ( ABC News: Jack Fisher )

That MP noted that taking a more open approach would come with significant political risk, because of the difficulties in having a "sensitive public discussion" about the topic.

Sections of the media have been known to lambast any move that could be seen as "soft on drugs", a sentiment made clear when the words "Pill Testing Plain Dumb" were printed on The West Australian newspaper's front page this week.

Furthermore, the Liberals and other conservatives are highly critical of the idea of pill testing.

"Diluting the anti-illicit drug message through the creation of pill testing facilities at public music concerts may influence a young person, who normally would not try an illegal drug, to think it is OK to do so," Liberal health spokesman Sean L'Estrange said last month.

Focus shifts to other drug control efforts

With the two major parties in WA sticking firmly to the "tough on drugs" approach, any serious consideration of changes to drug regulation or the introduction of pill testing seems far off.

The Government is likely to instead hope other key recommendations from the report — such as more drug education in schools, a "one-stop shop" support service for drug users and efforts to reduce the stigma around substance use — will help WA beat a methamphetamine scourge that has come at an enormous human and financial cost.

But anyone who read the expert panel's report would be forgiven for being sceptical about how well any of these measures to tackle the problem would work.

"Despite considerable effort, investment and success with the number and weight of methamphetamine seizures in Western Australia, the drug is readily available and relatively cheap to obtain," the methamphetamine taskforce report stated.

"The taskforce is of the view that there needs to be a comprehensive public consideration of the ways we treat currently illegal drugs in our community."