Britain | Drug-testing at music festivals

Cocaine or concrete?

Revellers get the chance to see if their illegal drugs are what they claim to be

Good clean fun

BACKSTAGE at many of Britain’s summer music festivals, suspicious pills and powders seized from tents are analysed by lab technicians. Usually it is to advise on-site doctors and police on what symptoms to look out for in people who become unwell. But this year, for the first time, festival-goers have been given the chance to get their illegal drugs tested before they take them.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Cocaine or concrete?"

The new political divide

From the July 30th 2016 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

What police commissioners tell you about the British election

Neither Labour landslide nor hung Parliament

Antisemitism is on the rise in Britain

But university encampments show how hard it is to define


Spies, trade and tech: China’s relationship with Britain

China was once seen as a golden opportunity. It is increasingly viewed as a threat