HSE programme analysed 97 samples of drugs at three-day Life Festival
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The HSE has shared the initial 'drug trends' from Life Festival as part of their Safer Nightlife Programme.
A total of 97 samples of drugs were surrendered by attendees over the three-day festival. There were "concerns" around ketamine, MDMA and cocaine, with the health risks spread on social media pages and by volunteers at the grounds.
In total, 97 samples were shared from festival goers in two drugs.ie surrender bins:
- 60 powders
- 36 pills
- 1 mushroom (truffles).
What was in the drugs?
- 42 MDMA
- 21 ketamine
- 17 cocaine
- 9 benzocaine
- 1 'blow cocaine'
- 1 'Tuci'
The programme was first used at the Electric Picnic festival last year. It is expected that it will be continued at the event this year as well as other festivals.
Nicki Killeen, HSE Project Manager Emerging Drug Trends, said people who came to the drugs.ie tent reported extremely positive feedback from the public who engaged with them at the event.
She explained: "We wanted to ensure that the tent was an environment where people felt safe and respected.
"Over 1,000 re-usable water bottles with harm reduction information on hydration, 1,000 lip balms and 300 re-usable tote bags with drugs.ie messaging were provided to attendees.
"The preliminary analytical results provide us with further insights into changing drug landscape in Ireland. We issued three alerts in relation to high strength ketamine, MDMA and cocaine in circulation."
Ms Killeen said that MDMA that was tested ranged from 50mg to 246mg, something she said showed the "diversity" of the MDMA available on the market—noting that the public can't be sure of the purity and how they would react.
She said: "The MDMA we tested ranged from 50mg to 246mg in products showing the diversity of MDMA available on the Irish market. This confirms that the public can’t be sure of the purity and how they will react.
She continued: “We also had a number of submissions to the Drugs.ie tent from festival goers whose friends became unwell. This meant we could apply analytical techniques to examine what substances may have led to these cases, providing real-time information for medics and those impacted.
"Looking to the future, our Safer Nightlife Programme has a central role in reducing drug-related harms at events and in the night-time economy."