HSE wants to expand festival drugs-testing pilot

The drug-checking service being piloted is called ‘back of house’, where substances are anonymously placed in ‘surrender bins’ in dedicated medical or HSE tents that are not being monitored by gardaí.

HSE officials are seeking to expand the limited drug checking initiative being piloting at music festivals to a more comprehensive, open testing service.

The move comes as the HSE has completed two of three planned checking programmes at festivals this year.

Testing of substances seized at the second of the two festivals is ongoing, but the HSE said preliminary findings suggest they may have identified three new drugs that have not been officially seen in Ireland before.

As part of its Safer Nightlife Programme, the HSE has been highlighting the risk to unsuspecting users from both unknown or little-known chemicals, which are manufactured to mimic drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, and cannabis, as well as high-strength versions of those traditional drugs.

The drug-checking service being piloted is called ‘back of house’, where substances are anonymously placed in ‘surrender bins’ in dedicated medical or HSE tents that are not being monitored by gardaí.

It is a more limited form of testing than ‘front of house’, where people can, without fear of being arrested, approach a drug testing service, hand over a substance, get it tested, and engage in face-face consultation with health staff.

Speaking at the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use at the weekend, Nicki Killeen, HSE project manager of Emerging Drug Trends, said: “We need to discuss front-of-house drug analysis, where people can directly give health services their substances and receive a tailored intervention.”

This would require changes to legislation as there would need to be an exemption to the law on the criminalisation of possession of drugs for personal use inside a designated area.

The HSE would need the support of the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána for the proposal.

Extend to other nightlife settings

Ms Killeen said they would also like to extend the current pilot to other festivals and nightlife settings.

At the third meeting of the assembly, she said this will require greater funding. It might also be worth the HSE looking at harm reduction being part of licences.

She said there was also a need for a “dedicated laboratory for emerging drug trends” to aid speedy and comprehensive testing.

She said the pilot checking to date was a “really good” example of the Departments of Justice and Health working together on a health-led strategy.

Ms Killeen said she “can’t commend the gardaí enough”, including both the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and local gardaí.

New drugs detected

She said four new drugs were identified at last year’s Electric Picnic — the site of the first official pilot — and that “possibly three new drugs” have been found in the two festivals in recent weeks that had not been identified before.

“This shows we are reaching hidden groups and learning more about emerging drug trends in ways we never have before in Ireland,” she said.

The third meeting of the assembly focused on services — from harm reduction to treatment and recovery — being provided by both statutory services and voluntary/community projects.

Gerry McCarney of the SASSY project in North Dublin said cannabis was the main drug of choice among young people he dealt with, followed by alcohol, with cocaine and ecstasy some way behind.

He said of the 118 new clients last year, almost 100 presented with cannabis, around 50 reported alcohol, with approximately 30 children each for cocaine and ecstasy.

He said there was an “increasing problem” with nitrous oxide and that the project had been in contact with hospital emergency departments as some of the children were presenting with “neurological difficulties, movement difficulties” because of the frequency of nitrous oxide use.

Tony Duffin of the Ana Liffey Drug Project highlighted the extent of the lack of treatment services outside Dublin.

He said that staff in their Limerick office often drive to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin for assessment to get into hospital stabilisation and detox services, if a space came up.

He said that involved a three-hour drive each way, taking up two members of staff and the person concerned – a journey repeated if the person gets in.

“We need those stabilisation detox beds right around the country,” he said.

Women are different

Gary Broderick of the SAOL women’s drug project in Dublin’s north inner city said that if the same approach to drug treatment for men is used for women it would be a “mess”, as addiction and associated issues were very different for women.

He said a high percentage of victims of domestic violence “use drugs to cope” with living with daily violence. He said there was a need for a refuge service for women suffering both domestic violence and using drugs, adding many refuges won’t take them.

He said women who are willing to go into treatment need support and reassurance that they won’t lose access to their children and the same during recovery and the inevitable relapse that is part of that process.

Catherine Kenny of Dublin Simon said drug use was the second most common reason for homelessness.

She said research conducted this year by Catherine Comiskey found that “only 10%” of their clients did not report experiencing childhood trauma.

She said that through Snapchat people can get drugs delivered “quicker than food”.

She said that stability was key to the lives of homeless people and that “safe and secure” housing was part of that.

On a broader level, Ms Kenny said poverty and deprivation needed to be tackled.

She said they were opening a 100-bed health and addiction treatment unit this year, that would provide alcohol and benzodiazepine detoxification, beds for homeless people before and after hospital treatment or surgery and recovery services.

There were further discussions at the assembly on recovery and supports for families and communities.