Drug testing service ruled out at Christchurch music festival Electric Avenue

Thursday, 21 February 2019

Chase and Status, DJ Set & MC Rage played on the Lake Stage during the 2018 Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch.

Despite a potent and lethal drug infiltrating Christchurch's biggest music festival last year, organisers say they won't offer testing services at this weekend's event as they could run the risk of prosecution.

A batch of a new drug known as brown sugar, which has been linked to deaths overseas, is thought to have been supplied at the festival in 2018, leaving 13 people in hospital, including a 15-year-old.

Callam Mitchell, whose company runs the event, said they had amped up the number of police and medical staff on site and doubled the security team from last year for the festival in Hagley Park on Saturday.

Mitchell said they opted out of providing a drug testing service because under current legislation organisers could face prosecution if they allow it. He instead encouraged people concerned about their drugs to buy testing kits and use them ahead of the festival.

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Detective Inspector Greg Murton said since the pills were 'very easy to conceal', organisers had little hope of picking them up.

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'While the health and safety of attendees is paramount for us, we had to weigh this up.'

The shorter nature of Electric Avenue, compared to multi-day festivals, makes it difficult to test the volume of drugs and tell people about the results, Mitchell said.

He is also hoping for a change in legislation to 'focus on harm reduction'.

'Until that happens we'd strongly recommend that if you are going to consume any illicit substances, be very careful of what you're taking.'

English drum and bass band Rudimental will headline Electric Avenue.

There is also an alcohol ban in the park in addition to the existing alcohol ban in central city streets.

More than 26 artists, including drum and bass acts Shapeshifter, Rudimental and NetSky will perform on four stages. Despite the forecast rain about 16,000 people, up from 13,000 last year, are expected to party.

'Glastonbury is known for the fact that it pretty much rains every year, and they still seem to get a reasonable turnout,' Mitchell said.

The event, which has been running for five years, is an all-day, adults-only festival.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sarah Illingworth said there were dodgy pills in circulation at any time purporting to be MDMA or party pills.

'Importers, manufacturers and dealers of these type of drugs have no scruples about what is put into them, which is simply chemicals in varying doses,' she said.

Drug harm reduction group KnowYourStuffNZ, which will in partnership with the Otago University Students Association, offer drug testing to thousands of student revellers taking part in Orientation 2019, has found more n-ethylpentylone, sometimes referred to as bath salts and brown sugar, and more high dose MDMA in drugs this summer than last.

Samples presumed to be MDMA but found not to be are most likely n-ethylpentylone.

Managing director Wendy Allison said people who used the service were more likely to dump dodgy drugs than those who didn't. Over half did not use drugs that were not what they presumed they would be and those who did tended to do so with more caution, Allison said.

Over the New Year period, KnowYourStuffNZ tested five pills from separate sources found to contain potentially dangerous levels of n-ethylpentylone.

Often sold as a white or coloured powder, brown sugar can look the same as MDMA but is stronger and can cause overdoses when sold as MDMA or ecstasy. The class C drug emerged in New Zealand in 2017.