A controversial scheme is being introduced at music festivals which will see festivalgoers able to submit their drugs for testing.
Festival Republic's Melvin Benn spoke to The Guardian about the initiative, which he hopes will be launched this year with the support of the National Police Chiefs Council and West Yorkshire Police.
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We know what you're probably thinking, handing over your drugs to the authorities for testing will result in scenes like this:
That's not actually going to be the case, however. The drugs will be tested by Loop, who are specialists at conducting forensics tests for the police, and they'll tell you exactly what you've bought so that you don't take anything dodgy.
Benn said: "We'll see it this year for definite… at Leeds I'm pretty certain.
"It's taken a long time and it won't be at every festival, but where we think there is a need to do it, we will be doing it."
While we can joke about the scheme all we want, it is designed to reduce the deaths that have occurred in the past due to drug-taking at festivals.
Fiona Measham, the founder of Loop, added that "it's really exciting that police are prioritising health and safety over criminal justice at festivals", and said she hopes the initiative spreads to more festivals and even nightclubs.
Speaking on behalf of West Yorkshire Police, Andy Battle said: "We can never condone the use of illegal drugs, but we recognise that some people will continue to take them and we need to adapt our approach in the interests of public safety."
If and when this initiative goes ahead, expect it to cause a lot of debate.
Related: Digital Spy's 2017 festival guide.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
