In what has become a well-known quote from the 1969 Woodstock festival, an announcement was made from the stage that:
“the brown acid that is circulating…is not specifically too good. It is suggested that you do stay away from that. Of course it’s your own trip, so be my guest; but be advised there is a warning on that one.”
In shorter form—“Don’t take the brown acid”—the warning became widely known, and is often referenced in popular culture.
I mention it here because it illustrates two things that we (likely) already know, or should realize: first, that large music festivals are often the site of considerable drug-taking activity (e.g. rave culture became infamous for this); and second, as there is no regulation or oversight of illegal drugs in much of the world, potency, purity, and ingredients can (and often do) vary widely even among substances alleged to be the same. For example, it is rumored that in 1969, the acid that was the subject of the warning at Woodstock was much higher in purity, and produced some ill effects.
How dangerous this is warrants further consideration. What if you were prescribed a medication that the pharmacist told you was 5mg of Ambien, but you had no way of verifying (1) that it was actually Ambien in the first place, (2) that it was in fact 5mg and not 150mg or 200mg, and (3) that, supposing it was Ambien, it had not been mixed with concrete or malaria medication? You don’t know—and couldn’t know—whether the pharmacist had given you something that would help you sleep or would kill you.
This is precisely the case with illegal drugs. Today, stories about ecstasy consisting mostly (or entirely in some cases) of concrete, and Xanax being cut with fentanyl abound. Make no mistake: illegal drugs are dangerous. But ALL drugs are vastly more dangerous when the taker has no idea what they have ingested.
It is virtually impossible to remove all drug-taking from large music festivals. How many concerts in relatively small clubs or arenas have you attended where you could smell the pungent and unmistakable odor of someone smoking pot? How much easier it would be to sneak in, and ingest, a pill? Removing drugs entirely from festivals will not happen.
It is, however, possible (and quite easy) to do something about the problem of concrete Ecstasy, fentanyl-laced Xanax, and high-purity acid: have organizations at festivals offer free testing of drugs. At the Kendal Calling Festival in Cumbria in northwest England, a charity called The Loop offered free testing of drugs at an on-site lab. After testing, The Loop provided a breakdown of what the substance actually contained, and offered to dispose of the substance if the person wanted them to; about 20% of drugs tested by the Loop were requested to be disposed of. Additionally, people who brought in drugs to be tested were not prosecuted—The Loop operated the lab with the support of the local police—and received information regarding the possible effects of taking the drug and other substance abuse literature/counseling. During the course of testing at the Cumbria festival, The Loop reported testing “ecstasy” and “cocaine” composed of insecticide, concrete, and malaria medication.
It took, of course, no time whatsoever for some people to respond with cries that this would normalize drug use, and that people who had never used drugs before would be inspired by The Loop’s testing to take massive amounts of drugs, and the world would surely end if this sort of thing continued. Said David Raynes of the National Drug Prevention Alliance: “This will normalize drug taking. Some people go to festivals for the first time and take drugs for the first time.” Using his logic, I suppose the ONLY reason Raynes doesn’t snort cocaine all day, every day is because he can’t be sure what he thinks is cocaine is actually cocaine—it has nothing to do with personal responsibility, focus on health, a general distaste for drugs, or anything else. There is no data to my knowledge, nor any that Raynes offered, for the proposition that offering free testing of drugs makes people take more drugs, or makes people who would not otherwise take drugs decide to take drugs.
I remind you again that the drug testing/checking in Cumbria occurred with the SUPPORT of the local police. Surely, if Raynes were correct, the police would not be complicit in this sort of thing?
Some might say drug testing or checking is typical European liberalism, and that this would never fly in America. Problem is, however, it has be done in America for nearly two decades. Since 1998, DanceSafe™ and other companies have sold at-home drug checking kits to determine the MDMA a person has bought is actually MDMA, and not some other potentially more dangerous substance mixed with the MDMA. Such companies have been present at virtually every major music festival in the United States, often flying under-the-radar (little or no police support here), offering to test drugs for free.
Make no mistake: this an effective harm-reduction tactic. There is no way of ridding the world of drugs, and some people will always take drugs. There ARE, however, things we can do to keep people from being hurt or killed. Offering drug testing/checks at music festivals is no one’s first choice to addressing the drug problem—but it is a smart way to keep people safe(r).