The New Zealand Drug Foundation says nearly a quarter of the drugs which circulate at festivals are not what they claimed to be. File photo Photo: 123rf
New Zealand's new drug-checking legislation will be put to the test in what looks set to be the first unrestricted music festival season since the pandemic began.
Events can now license drug-checking clinics on location after the government brought in legislation to allow for substances to be tested on-site to ensure they are not laced.
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Northern Bass director Gareth Popham said drug use was inevitable at any music festival, but safety checks gave him peace of mind.
"People need to get their heads out of the sand a little bit," he said.
"This is something that's happening in 2022. Most young people dabble or partake at some stage."
He hoped this year's event would be its safest, with the legally-endorsed drug checking available.
The New Zealand Drug Foundation said nearly a quarter of the drugs which circulated at festivals were not what they claimed to be.
The foundation's principal science advisor, Emily Hughes, said it was hard to know what to expect this year, with this summer being the first full-on festival season having legally-endorsed drug checking.
"But we know there are going to be a lot of people out there, and a lot of people using drugs at festivals."
The bill made it much easier for her organisation to track what was out there, Hughes said.
"Drug checking being a lot more available than it has been in previous years is going to really help us," she said.
"Not only to deliver services to people planning to use drugs leading up to the festival season, but also just being able to have a better understanding of what's out there."
Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick says making information readily available on drugs is the best way to reduce harm. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick, who backed the bill, said drug use was not as fringe as many people believed.
"Police wastewater testing data shows us that every weekend across this country tens of thousands of doses of MDMA are consumed."
People were going to take drugs regardless of the punishment, and making information readily available was the best way to reduce harm, Swarbrick said.
"We have unknown people in unknown places consuming unknown substances of unknown quality to unknown effect," she said.
"Dealing with the reality of that risky behaviour and taking it out of the shadows and providing this data produces far safer outcomes, and that's just a fact."
But clinics would not be available everywhere. Rhythm and Alps director Alex Turnbull said he was unable to provide drug checking for his 24,000 attendees.
"That's a really good legislation that's passed, but we're just not in a position to do it properly," he said.
"We'd need some good guidance and some good governance around that on how to do it, because there's only one or two licenses issued in New Zealand at the moment."
Hughes said it was still difficult for events to put a clinic on festival grounds.
Attendees should not take them for granted, and come prepared with their own safety measures, she said.
"We really suggest people, if they can, come to drug-checking services before they come to festivals," she said. "Get their gear checked, and have a harm reduction conversation."
The Drug Foundation also keeps an index of substances with safety information on its website.