Festivals to allow revellers to test drugs before they take them
Pioneering scheme is backed by local police forces in bid to keep recreational drug users safe
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Your support makes all the difference.Some of Britain’s biggest music festivals are poised to allow revellers to test their drugs before they take them.
For the first time this summer, Reading and Leeds festivals and a number of other live music events are aiming to introduce the testing of illegal drugs for attendees with the support of local police forces.
Melvin Benn, head of Live Nation subsidiary Festival Republic, revealed the pioneering scheme to the Press Association and expects it at “between six and 10 festivals this year”.
Mr Benn, who also organises Latitude, V Festival, Wireless and a host of other events, has been working on the plan since last summer and is awaiting confirmation of support from West Yorkshire Police (WYP) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Festival-goers will be able to take their drugs to a testing tent run by The Loop, an organisation that usually conducts forensic testing of drugs seized by police. They will then tell them what is in the drugs before destroying whatever was handed over.
Last year, The Loop ran the scheme for the first time at a UK music festival when around 200 revellers tested their illegal drugs at Secret Garden Party in Cambridgeshire.
Founder of the organisation Fiona Measham said the initiative’s expansion was “radical”, adding: “It’s really exciting that police are prioritising health and safety over criminal justice at festivals.”
She believes up to 10 festivals will be involved this year, including a number of independent events, and hopes front-house testing will become commonplace in nightclubs and city centres in the future.
Last year, 17-year-old Lewis Haunch died after taking drugs at Leeds Festival while in the same year two teenagers died at T In The Park in reportedly drug-related incidents.
Benn told the Press Association he was being “very proactive”, adding: “We talked about it during the summer of last year and the reality is that I took a decision that unless and until the NPCC supported the principle of it, it was difficult for us to move forward on it.”
He said he had now seen a draft of an agreement that will make it easier for forces across the country to support the initiative.
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