Speaking ahead of one of the busiest festival weekends, Detective Sergeant Brian Roberts, said gardaí undertake both “overt and covert” operations at festivals and warned those attending that there would be “no tolerance” of drugs.
Det Sgt Roberts, from to the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, said a State working group was for the first time examining measures aimed at reducing the harm posed by drugs at festivals, such as amnesty bins and drug testing.
He said it was more likely that a pilot of an amnesty bin, where users can lawfully dispose of their drugs on entering a festival, would be tried first, as drug testing involved a “lot of legal and ethical issues” and would be “a much bigger step”.
There is an ongoing campaign in Britain for drug testing facilities, fuelled by two drug deaths at Portsmouth festival last May. Groups such as the Ana Liffey Drug Project are calling for similar facilities here.
Source: Cormac O'Keefe, irishexaminer.com, 03/08/2018
Safer Student Nights
eBulletin
Poll
