‘Reducing harm on the farm’: Shambhala setting the standard for festival safety

Drug testing in the music festival industry has come a long way since Shambhala’s inception.

Based in Nelson, harm reduction organization ANKORS first began testing drugs at the popular electronic music festival 17 years ago.

“During the early years, we wouldn’t even put a sign out front and it was just word of mouth,” says Chloe Sage.

“We were quite worried because testing drugs was such a grey area, we thought we may even be arrested.”

Fast forward nearly two decades and the ANKORS drug testing centre will certainly have proper signage out when Shambhala begins on Aug. 8.

In 2018, 3,168 drug checks were performed for the roughly 17,000 people in attendance using an FTIR Spectrometer for the first time.

Shambhala donated $10,000 to help purchase advanced drug testing technology that can test for up to four different substances in a drug.

ANKORS also uses testing strips that will detect even trace amounts of the deadly opioid fentanyl.

The practice has proven to save lives and is now being backed by BC health authorities.

Those harm reduction services are now funded by provincial health authority Interior Health and endorsed by BC Public Health.

Drug testing was even outlined in BC’s new mass gathering guidelines as a service festivals are expected to offer.

At Shambhala, after the drugs undergo testing, a small number of those samples are then sent down to the Health Canada toxicology labs in Vancouver for confirmatory testing and research purposes.

Due to the fact a civilian can't legally transport those packaged drugs, a police officer from Nelson is sent to the festival grounds each year to complete the task.

It's an example of the relationship ANKORS and Shambhala have with local authorities.

While drug testing and harm reduction has proven to save lives, festivals do continue to be an "at your own risk activity" warn officials.

"Pacing yourself is key, don't worry about missing a show because you need water, food or sleep" reminds Sage.

"Be extremely careful with dosage if you choose to mix substances."

Similar drug testing services are available year-round in Kamloops via ASK Wellness, Victoria at UVIC/CISUR, Vancouver's BCCSU and ANKORS in Nelson.

To learn more about the organization, click here.