Everything you need to know about drug testing at festivals

Heading to a festival this summer? You may have heard murmurings about drug testing on sites changing. But what’s going on?

This month, Parklife festival was left without its usual drug testing facilities – provided by charity The Loop – after the Home Office said it would need to apply for a special licence just days before the festival.

The Home Office faced backlash, although it maintains that this has always been the policy, however it had gone unenforced by local police forces in the past.

Since 2014, The Loop has allowed Greater Manchester Police to test confiscated drugs at Parklife and other festivals around the UK. Without it, advocates argue festival goers would be at risk.

They’re not necessarily wrong: drug testing facilities have been found to be potentially lifesaving by researchers. 

Before the recent furore over Parklife, most people didn’t realise that drug testing at festivals was even a thing. After all, drugs are illegal… so how does it all work?

Here’s everything you need to know if you’ve bagged yourself a ticket this summer.

How does drug testing work at UK festivals?

While it’s illegal to possess substances classified under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the government does allow for back-of-house drug testing in the UK.

This means that the drugs confiscated by security and law enforcement – usually in the queue on the way into a festival or club – are sent to a testing facility that is either on or off site. 

In Parklife’s case, the drug testing facility was a pop-up one on site.

Drugs would be tested in real time to see if any of them were dangerous or being missold as something they weren’t. 

Not knowing what’s actually in your drugs increases the risk of harm (obviously).

When drugs are tested on site, alerts are sent out to festival goers about any dangerous substances, so people can make a more informed decision about what’s going into their body.

Front-of-house vs back-of-house testing

There are two types of drug testing, front-of-house and back-of-house. 

Back-of-house, as we explained, involves testing drugs that have already been confiscated.

Front-of-house testing is a face to face service with drug users. People are able to take their drugs to a testing facility themselves without being searched or questioned. 

They also receive harm reduction and safety advice from volunteers working the facility. 

A government report found that festivals see a 10% to 25% reduction in drug-related harm when the volunteer-run drug testing facility The Loop operates onsite, and that ‘there have been no drug-related deaths at any festival [with drug checking]’. 

And that’s just back-of-house testing.

A landmark study, published in the International Journal of International Drug Policy, which analysed the findings of a free, confidential front-of-house testing service by The Loop at the Secret Garden Party festival in 2016, found that one in five substances was not as sold or acquired.

A similar study from last year found that 45% of samples sold as MDMA tested at English festivals last summer contained no MDMA at all.

At the Secret Garden Party, one in five of those who used the front-of-house service disposed of their drugs post-testing, while one in six moderated their possession and another one in six moderated their consumption.

Test results were shared with friends and other drug users via social media, as well as with emergency services. 

Speaking on the topic, a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: ‘Our position hasn’t changed. Drug testing providers must have a licence to test for controlled drugs, including at festivals.

‘We have consistently made this condition clear, and law enforcement have always had a responsibility to uphold this legal requirement.

‘We continue to keep an open dialogue with any potential applicants. Festivals aiming to test drugs off their site this summer must work with the police and a Home Office licensed drug testing provider.’

For now, the UK doesn’t have front-of-house testing facilities at festivals, but back-of-house testing is the norm, and it’s vital.

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