Allow drug testing at festivals to cut deaths, MPs urge ministers

Drop abstinence-only approach' and focus on public health, report by home affairs select committee says

Ministers should expand anonymous drug testing at festivals and allow supervised drug-taking facilities to reduce the risk of fatal overdoses and infections, an influential parliamentary committee has concluded.

In a report that urges the government to focus on public health rather than an abstinence-only approach", the home affairs select committee calls for a national drug-checking service to anonymously test drugs and a licensing scheme for onsite drug-testing facilities at festivals.