Glastonbury weekend: drugs testing can save lives this festival season
No matter what organisers do, there will always be drugs at festivals like Glastonbury, so why not make sure they are as safe as possible? Asks Sacha Lord
This weekend will see the doyenne of festivals, Glastonbury, will fire the starting gun on the summer party season.
At every single major festival in the UK this year, kids will be on drugs.
If the authorities can’t stop drugs from getting into our Category A prisons, then how are event organisers supposed to stop them getting into a field?
The answer is that no matter what you do, no matter how much security you have, how many sniffer dogs, bag searches or pat downs, drugs will always be inside festivals.
I will never forget being sat in event control at the festival I founded, Parklife, when I was radioed to attend an incident. When I arrived, I encountered a group of security standing around a hole. Lying next to it was a small trowel and a set of gloves; someone had clearly been in weeks before to hide their stash.
If the authorities can’t stop drugs from getting into our Category A prisons, then how are event organisers supposed to stop them getting into a field?
So if we can’t stop drugs getting in, we have to do the next best thing: educate, educate and educate.
If you are reading this and you’re telling yourself your son or daughter will never take drugs, then think again. Over my 30 years I’ve seen people from all walks of life and backgrounds take drugs – and it seems that most experiment for the first time at a festival with their friends.
Sadly, it takes just one bad pill for your son or daughter not to return home. It happens every year and 2025 will be no different.
But with messaging and back of house testing, lives can be saved.
Messaging is clear and simple for both the run up to and during the event. All that’s necessary are warnings like: “Don’t mix drugs with alcohol”, “if you are going to take a pill, then crush it, dab it and wait for the effect” and “if you are feeling unwell, please tell your nearest member of staff”.
Back of house testing doesn’t mean you can rock up with a bag of pills or powder and see if it is any good (although that does happen in some countries). Here, back of house testing is where the police take confiscated drugs to an onsite laboratory – run by scientists working for charities such as The Loop, or MANDRAKE (Manchester Drug Analysis & Knowledge Exchange) – and have them tested. The results are pretty much instantaneous and if something is deemed concerning then the event organiser can issue an alert on their socials. Usually the warning features a picture of the tested item and a warning to avoid the drug at all cost.
I’ve seen drugs testing save a life before my eyes
I’ve seen back of house testing save a life right in front of me. Many years ago, we had a very poorly customer – and I mean very poorly. Her temperature had already soared to 42 and she was severely unwell. Her friends gave the police a description of what she had taken; in this case it was a green pill with a Rolex logo on it. Within minutes, the scientists had found a pill of the same description in the confiscation box. They had it tested, informed the doctor/paramedics what was in it, and the doctor knew how to deal with it and saved her life.
Most people are shocked by how openly I talk about drugs, but if a festival organiser says that there are no drugs at their event, then they are either lying or stupid.
I would go as far as to say that if you don’t have back of house testing at your festival, then you are acting irresponsibly. I think it should be a condition of your license – and that’s coming from someone who hates red tape and regulation.
Politicians from across the spectrum are now coming round to my way of thinking. It was only Suella Braverman who was adamantly against it. Whilst she paused all testing in 2023, fortunately James Cleverly (her successor) wisely reinstated it.
There’s no doubt that the debate on drugs will last forever. However, one thing I think we can all agree on is that we want fewer needless deaths. The “Just Say No” approach doesn’t work.
Back of house testing is the answer.
Sacha Lord is Sacha Lord founder of The Warehouse Project/Parklife, chair of the NTIA and former Night Time Economy Adviser. His book: Tales From The Dancefloor (A Sunday Times Bestseller) is available here: