Image: Facebook: Leeds Festival

Pill Testing To Be Introduced At Six UK Music Festivals

Despite a plethora of experts advocating for pill testing at Australian festivals, nothing has yet eventuated in terms such facilities actually being put in place at such events.

While proposals for pill testing continue to be knocked back by both the NSW and ACT Governments, a number of festivals in the UK look set to allow pills to be tested in the coming months.

BBC reports that Reading and Leeds festival are among the festivals likely to see the new pill testing scheme introduced, with the support of local police forces.

Festival Republic’s Melvin Benn says he has seen a draft agreement bringing in easier procedures for local police forces to support the scheme, and as a result he expects “between six and ten festivals” to introduce pill testing this year alone.

We’ll see it this year for definite… at Leeds I’m pretty certain,” he said. “It’s taken a long time and it won’t be at every festival, but where we think there is a need to do it we will be doing it.”

As part of the proposed scheme, punters will be able to take their drugs into a tent run by The Loop, who generally do forensic testing of drugs following police seisures.

The latest news locally is that Canberra festival Spilt Milk is hoping to introduce a pill testing trial at it’s festival in December this year. That’s despite the ACT goverment rejecting a similar proposal by Groovin The Moo to hold pill testing at its Canberra leg last month.

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