No drug-testing tents at Womad

The biggest festival in Taranaki will not see drug-testing tents this year, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen, one of the organisers says.

Suzanne Porter, chief executive of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (Taft) which runs Womad in New Plymouth, was speaking after Police Minister Stuart Nash praised the independently run tents, which allow recreational drug users to know what they are taking. Nash called them a ‘‘fantastic idea’’ that ‘‘should be installed at all our festivals’’.

His comments followed the discovery of pesticides and paint in confiscated drugs at Gisborne’s New Year’s Rhythm and Vines festival.

But Porter said while Womad, which returns to New Plymouth for three days in mid-March, may ‘‘fall into that category’’ of festival, it did not have issues with drugs.

‘‘Whilst I think for certain festivals it’s an appropriate thing to do, we don’t have those sorts of issues due to, I think, the demographic,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s not unusual to have three generations on site – parents, grandparents, teenagers, children – it doesn’t feel right at this point for us to consider it.’’

However, this isn’t to say there will never be drug-testing tents at the Taranaki festival.

‘‘I would definitely be watching the whole thing with a lot of interest to see how it evolves.’’

Porter said she thought the tents were quite a positive thing for the industry.

‘‘I think anything that makes it safer for the individual and safer for other attendees is a very positive move.’’

Police Minister Nash told Stuff last week that independent testing tents that let people know what was in their recreational drugs could become a regular feature at festivals in New Zealand.

‘‘I think they’re a fantastic idea and should be installed at all our festivals,’’ he said.

‘‘But I need to see how it works and better understand the implications of it first.’’

The recreational drug testing is to reduce harm rather than stop drug use by letting consumers of illicit pills know if the drugs they are taking have been mixed with other dangerous chemicals.

He said drug-testing tents at festivals in Australia and the United Kingdom had dropped hospitalisation rates by 95 per cent.

‘‘The war on drugs hasn’t worked in the past 20 years, so it’s time to change to a more compassionate and restorative approach.’’