Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department has taken to provide police forces with guidance on the legality of drug safety testing at music festivals.

Drugs are controlled where there is scientific and medical evidence that they are harmful to health and society. The possession of any amount of a controlled drug is a criminal offence and the supply of a controlled drug is an even more serious offence. No illegal drug-taking can be assumed to be safe and there is no safe way to take them.

The Government’s approach remains clear: we must prevent illicit drug use in our communities and help those dependent on drugs to recover while ensuring our drug laws are enforced. In relation to drug testing at events, chief constables are responsible for operational decisions in their local area and we are not standing in their way.

The National Policing Lead for Drugs provided updated advice in the summer to all Chief Constables to make them aware of matters that they should consider if working with event organisers who may wish to use drug testing services. He is currently considering this issue further in conjunction with forces and will produce further advice for police forces in the spring.