Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jul 2015
Source: Metro (Halifax, CN NS)
Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Halifax
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4727
Author: Zane Woodford
Page: 5

EVOLVE IS ON, BUT DRUG TESTING ISN'T

Organizers had hoped to offer safer use after past problems

The Evolve Festival in Antigonish this weekend will go ahead, but
concert-goers won't be able to have their drugs tested on site, as the
organizers had wanted.

"I signed a waiver that says we wouldn't do any of the sort at Evolve
this year," said producer Jonas Colter Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Colter's insurance company told him it couldn't insure him
if he was going to provide drug testing for people at the festival.

Now, he's found a new insurance underwriter, but he still can't
provide the service, which he calls harm reduction.

"It's like an elephant in the room," Colter said of drug-use at the
festival. "Nobody wants to talk about it, but we decided to."

The testing he had planned to offer would have told festivalgoers what
the majority ingredient in their pills or powder was. That means if
someone bought ecstasy, they'd be able to find out if it's ecstasy, or
something like PCP or bath salts - drugs that Colter said create
problems at the festival.

To Kings North PC MLA John Lohr, that would mean the festival is
condoning drug use.

"They should've taken the position that they wanted to eliminate the
drugs from the event, rather than encourage the drugs in the event,"
he said Wednesday. "These drugs are illegal because they are
inherently dangerous to use."

Colter said the rules of Evolve don't permit drug use, but it's
something the festival and the police have dealt with for years.

"Last year there were some people who were doing unknown drugs =C2=85 tha
t
were making them temporarily aggressive [and] psychotic that had to be
restrained and police had to be called in," Colter said. "If we could
weed out the especially dangerous drugs at the festival =C2=85 I think th
at
is to everyone's favour, including the RCMP."

Lohr doesn't see it that way.

"If the events were drug-free I think the police would have less
strain on their system," he said.

Colter said at other festivals, like Shambhala Music Festival in
British Columbia, this kind of harm reduction policy is working.

He said he'll try to implement that policy for next year, and find an
insurance provider who will still cover the festival.

But for now, "Evolve's a go and that's what's most important."
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MAP posted-by: Matt