Life threatening

HSE warns of potent drugs at summer festivals

- DANNY DE VAAL

DANGEROUSLY potent MDMA, ketamine and cocaine were discovered at a music festival in Westmeath, the HSE has revealed.

Revellers at Life Festival, which wrapped up yesterday, were warned about the high-strength drugs after they were tested in an onsite laboratory.

The narcotic testing programme, which will be seen at other festivals this summer, involves punters anonymously putting a small number of drugs into surrender bins at the harm reduction tent or at the medical tent.

The substances were then brought to an onsite portable laboratory and analysed by staff from the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory using specialist machines.

Health bosses then used social media to flag any drugs which were high in strength.

On Saturday, they warned that MDMA which was two times "the average dose" was in circulation. High-strength ketamine and cocaine were also discovered.

In their social media posts, the HSE said: "It's always safer not to use.

Remember HSE advice, start very low, go slow and avoid mixing. But experienced and well-known addiction counsellor Marie Byrne stressed she didn't agree with the HSE's testing programme.