Ana Liffey Drug Project runs harm-reduction tent at Electric Picnic

People planning to use illegal drugs at this year’s Electric Picnic festival are being advised to take a ‘tester dose’ first and not to mix substances.

The Ana Liffey Drug Project is running a harm- reduction service at the three-day festival, which will be attended by 55,000 people.

For the second year, volunteers will provide information and materials on illegal drugs and alcohol, as well as one-to-one advice and referral to other services.

Ana Liffey CEO Tony Duffin said that the charity neither promotes nor denounces substance use, but rather responds to problems associated with it.

“Obviously, it is not safe to drink alcohol to excess; and it is certainly true that it is safer not to take illicit or unknown drugs at all,” he said.

“However, we are aware that some people attending music festivals do drink excessively and take drugs; and everyone needs to work together to reduce the potential for harm.”

Mr Duffin said it is important that people can access accurate and non-judgemental information at Electric Picnic, which is on the weekend of August 31 to September 2.

He said that many people who intend to take illicit or unknown drugs at music festivals “plan” their weekend consumption in advance.

Their harm-reduction advice includes:

• Do not purchase from a supplier you do not know;
• Do not use drugs alone; and stay with your friends and do not leave anybody intoxicated on their own;
• Start with a tester dose — but, remember, nobody can advise you on what is a safe dose of illicit or unknown drugs;
• Take breaks, get enough sleep, eat well, and rehydrate;
• Don’t mix your drugs — and remember that alcohol and drugs can mix to cause overdose or other adverse effects

Mr Duffin said gardaí have publicly warned those attending festivals that there will be “no tolerance” of drugs.

This refers to an interview given by the gardaí’s leading drug officer to the Irish Examiner earlier this month.

Detective Sergeant Brian Roberts of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said people are “more blind now than ever before” in terms of the dangers posed by what they are taking.

This is due to a double risk of drugs either containing very high, and dangerous, purity levels or containing completely unknown, and toxic, substances.

Mr Duffin said there are no drug-free music festivals and commended Electric Picnic for hosting the project. He said policing alone will not work and a public health approach is also needed.

He said 71 people presented to their tent last year, 51 of whom were male. All were aged in their late teens or early 20s.

Substances ingested included alcohol, cannabis, MDMA, LSD, GHB, ketamine, and methamphetamine.