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Bristol to become first UK city to provide drug safety testing
Drug users in Bristol will be able to have their drugs tested in a pop-up lab in the city centre and the next day at Love Saves the Day festival at Eastville Park.
Organised by not-for-profit community interest company The Loop and supported by Bristol City Council and Avon & Somerset Police as part of the Safer Bristol Partnership, it will be the first time such a scheme has been open to the general public in a UK city.
The pop-up lab – offering complete anonymity – will provide potentially life-saving information about the contents of the drugs tested, and will also have a counselling service operating alongside it.
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Once a sample has been tested, the person will take part in a short consultation with one of The Loop’s healthcare professionals.
When The Loop ran the same testing facility at Boomtown festival in 2017, nearly half of festival goers who used the service said they would reduce their drug taking or discard their drugs afterwards.
In pilot testing in Bristol earlier this month, one in five samples tested were found to have been miss-sold and further samples were much higher strength than expected. All samples submitted to The Loop for testing are destroyed in the testing process or disposed of by the police.
Love Saves the Day festival director Tom Paine said: “We’re a small, independent festival and we really care about our audience.
“Their safety is paramount so we have a 360 approach to drugs at LSTD. In 2018, we’re implementing the ‘3Ps’ drug policy – prevent, pursue and protect.”
Love Saves the Day has grown into Bristol’s biggest music festival
Paine added that he wants to be “completely clear that this service in no way condones substance abuse at any of our events”.
He said: “Our first line of defence will always be prevention – keeping drugs out of LSTD by raising awareness around the dangers of drug taking before the festival, strictly enforcing searches at the festival gates and working with Avon & Somerset Police to pursue any criminal organisations suspected of operating on site.”
“In six years of LSTD we’ve never had a drug-related fatality, we want to be as proactive as we possibly can in ensuring that never happens in the future.”
Loop director Fiona Measham, a professor of criminology at Durham University, said: “We were excited that such a vibrant city as Bristol was the first to embrace drug safety testing, in a partnership with the police, council, public health and the local drugs service that hosted us.
“After two summers of festival safety testing reducing drug-related harm, we were keen to open up the service so that everyone has the opportunity to test substances of concern, including those who might not be able to attend or afford festivals.”
“It also provides an opportunity to proactively test ahead of festivals, to anticipate and avoid public health scares onsite.”
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