Rejected petition Reverse the Government’s U-Turn on On-Site Drug Testing at Festivals

Rejected on 21 August 2023

The Home Office recently introduced a law under which festival organisers who wish to offer on-site public drug testing will have to apply for a license to be able to do so. It can take up to 16 weeks for the license to be approved, at a significant cost.Festivals have been unable to offer testing.

Public testing saves lives. Evidence suggests that when public testing services such as The Loop are operating on site, festivals see a 10-15% reduction in drug related harm.
Certain 2023 festivals saw crystal methamphetamine being sold on site. Such a substance can easy be missold as MDMA crystals - statistically the most widely used substance at festivals.
Public testing can prevent such atrocities. Harm reduction and education will always be more effective than a blanket ban.

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign this petition which calls for a similar action:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/640252
Allow on-site drug testing at festivals without a licence or permanent structure

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.