Nobody wants to wreck the summer party but — alas, there is always a killjoy ‘but’ — some of this year’s events come with health risks. Festival-goers, in particular, have been warned that more potent drugs are likely to be in greater circulation this year.

Powerful opioids, with the potential to cause harm, could also be sold as other forms of drugs. This raises the prospect that people won’t know what they are taking, or its strength.

The warnings came at the launch of the Safer Nightlife programme, a welcome HSE initiative which will test illegal drugs at four of this summer’s festivals. By testing samples placed anonymously in bins, health officials will be able to identify high-risk drugs and warn people to avoid them.

In 2023, eight risk alerts went out about high-strength MDMA (ecstasy), cocaine, and ketamine. This year, more risk alerts are expected and, with them, an inevitable rise in the number of people adversely affected.

There is something deeply unsettling in knowing that music festivals now come with a health warning. What does it say about us that we have developed a range of so-called social lubricants that can cause lasting harm?

At least the HSE is dealing with this stark reality in a practical, open, and non-judgmental way.

We might start to do the same in a renewed conversation about drug use in Ireland. As our security correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe reported yesterday, a fifth of young people seeking help for addiction in recent months reported mental health problems after using a semi-synthetic form of cannabis (HHC) sold legally in vape shops.

The HSE’s clinical lead on addiction, Prof Eamon Keenan, is now building a case to ban the sale of HHC, or hexahydrocannabinol, and have it included in drug laws.

It is particularly cynical that vape manufacturers have introduced a range of seemingly innocuous flavours, such as bubblegum and strawberry, which appeal to children and younger people.

The idea that cannabis and cannabis-related products are innocuous, however, is one that needs to be consigned to the past. Yet the old image of the drug as some sort of harmless, feelgood, wacky baccy prevails.

The figures punch a hole in that delusion. 

Last year, there were more than 1,047 hospitalisations linked to cannabis use, according to HSE data. That’s up from 890 in 2019.

Cannabis products now contain much higher levels of substances, such as the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which are known to cause psychosis and other health issues.

Nevertheless, there is still widespread support for the legalisation of cannabis in Ireland, in particular for medical use. 

There’s a valid case to be made for the latter, but when it comes to “recreational” use, it’s time to stop thinking of cannabis as a “soft” drug.

Lessons from the past

A new discovery shows the ancient Egyptians were trying to understand and treat cancer over 4,000 years ago. As is so often the case, archaeological evidence — in this case cut marks on a skull around a possible cancerous growth — challenges our perceptions of people in the past.

When researchers first saw what looked like surgical intervention to treat a tumour, they could not believe it. Yet, we already know ancient Egyptians were highly skilled at medicine. They were adept at treating diseases, wounds, and fractures; they even put in dental fillings. 

Why then are we constantly surprised by the skill and expertise of people from the past? 

Progress is not linear and it’s certainly not confined to the present day. 

While we might boast of our many medical advances, maybe our ancestors could teach us something about delivering aid to the people who need it. 

What would they think of a brave new world in which an elderly woman had to wait an hour for an ambulance to bring her to a hospital just minutes away, or a country that doesn’t have enough intensive care beds to treat the seriously ill?