A WORKING GROUP will examine if drug-testing at music festivals could work in Ireland.
Minister of State for Health Promotion Catherine Byrne told the Seanad today the working group, which has already been established by the Department of Health and HSE, will examine the evidence on early harm reduction responses such as drug-testing next year.
While the National Drugs Strategy is examining the issue of drug use, the working group will draw together the relevant stakeholders and examine best practice models from other countries to help determine if drug-testing at music festivals and nightclubs could work here.
The provision is available in a number of other European countries.
While the advice from the Department of Health and the HSE is that people attending festivals should inform themselves about the dangers of taking drugs and, preferably, not take drugs at all, reducing the harms is core to the government's strategy, said Byrne.
