Year-round drug monitoring will now take place at two major clubbing venues thanks to drug-related harm prevention charity The Loop securing a licence from the Home Office that allows it to operate ongoing mobile testing labs within Drumsheds in London and The Warehouse Project in Manchester.
“Implementing onsite drug testing at both Drumsheds and The Warehouse Project will commence a nationwide network of drug testing, funded directly by the venues”, says The Loop founder Professor Fiona Measham. This will allow swift communication of any issues identified, not just to customers of those two venues, but also to law enforcement, public health officials and “the wider nightlife communities”
The Loop will test drugs confiscated or surrendered at Drumshed and The Warehouse Project to identify what kinds of substances are in circulation. This, the charity says, will “inform our understanding of the UK’s changing drug market and the implications of that for both customers and emergency services operating in those venues”.
The year-round testing extends work already undertaken at a number of music festivals, work which last year looked like it was under threat because of a new position taken by the Home Office.
Previously, many festivals that instigated drug monitoring did so via an agreement with their local police forces. But last year the Home Office said that a licence was also required from central government and insisted that had always been the case.
By the time that statement had been made it was too late for some festivals to go through the licence application process, prompting considerable criticism from the affected events.
However, this year Home Office licensed drug monitoring went ahead at various festivals, and with The Loop now having permission to test drugs year-round, the whole programme is “going from strength to strength”, in the words of Measham.
Drug monitoring like that undertaken by The Loop has been introduced in a number of countries. In some places, festival-goers and clubbers can directly ask for drugs they have bought to be tested, so they can be certain what specific substances they have been sold.
In other countries, as with The Loop’s work, it’s drugs that have been confiscated by or surrendered to security and police that are tested. If any issues are identified - for example, that particularly high strength substances are in circulation - that information can be communicated to the public and to emergency services, preventing harm.
Earlier this year, Kings College London published research showing that Xylazine, a powerful animal tranquiliser with “horrific side effects”, had “penetrated the UK’s illicit drug market”. Researchers conducting the study “found the presence of the drug in sixteen people, eleven of whom were fatal”.
Dr Caroline Copeland from KCL’s School Of Cancer And Pharmaceutical Science said that the presence of the substance was a “cause for alarm”, noting that there were “simple measures” that the UK could introduce to mitigate the risk. These included making “cheap xylaine test strips” available, as well as making healthcare providers aware of the effects of the drug.
Dr Adam Holland, a co-author of the research and Co-Chair of the Faculty Of Public Health Drugs Special Interest Group, said that the research was “extremely concerning”.
He went on, “As levels of adulteration increase and drug-related deaths mount it becomes even more clear that our punitive drugs laws are not reducing harm. We need to expand the range of harm reduction interventions available for people who use drugs, including drug checking and overdose prevention centres, to give them the opportunities they need to stay safe”.
Commenting on the expansion of The Loop’s work, the charity’s CEO Katy Porter adds, “With our drug testing being completed at festivals, a seasonal industry, we have been concerned that this does not go far enough in maintaining regular drug intelligence across the UK, and importantly throughout the year”.
The introduction of year-round testing, she goes on, “will provide intelligence for real time risk management and harm reduction information that can be quickly shared with the public, other venues and wider stakeholders to reduce the potential of significant harms”.
Also noting that wider impact, Sam Spencer - Head Of Operations at Drumsheds - says, “We believe in taking proactive steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all audiences, and the introduction of testing is a significant move in that direction”.
“It’s about more than just mitigating risks”, he adds, “it’s about equipping people with the knowledge and support they need to stay safe across London, Manchester and nationwide, while fostering a responsible, informed culture within the live events space”.