Harm reduction charity The Loop has issued a warning over “super strength” ecstasy pills at Glastonbury 2024.
The Loop has warned festival-goers this year about the new pills after testing over 150 samples of drugs purchased as ecstasy. The nonprofit organisation discovered one in ten pills containing doses of more than 250mg of MDMA, which they say is concerning for ravers who have grown accustomed to lower-strength pills during the pandemic.
“It is younger and less experienced festival-goers who came of age during Covid and never experienced the super-strength pills of the 2010s who are particularly at risk,” Loop founder Professor Fiona Measham told The Guardian.
The Loop found evidence of the “super strength” pills from samples at Manchester’s Parklife from June 8-9. Checking green, purple and grey-coloured tablets placed in amnesty bins or seized by police, the charity has said the strength of these pills were akin to previous pills that have led to hospitalisations, or even deaths.
Adam Waugh, training coordinator of The Loop, has said the safest option is “not to take pills”, further cautioning that “if someone is going to take them, it is safer to start with a quarter. Wait at least 90 minutes before re-dosing, and do not assume that pills of a similar design have the same contents. Pills which look very similar can have different contents and be of differing strengths.”
The organisation also issued warnings of a “fentanyl-style epidemic” earlier this year thanks to fake and laced benzos circulating in the UK.
According to harm reduction services Pill Report and The Loop, the UK is currently facing an increase of fake and laced benzos (most commonly known in the form of Xanax or Valium). Pill Report has claimed that 47.1% of American clubbers aged 18 to 29 have used “non-prescribed” benzo-like drugs in the last four months.
However, they warn that recently, street benzos can contain alternative compounds, one of which they describe as a “super-strength opioid”. Most notably, two compounds have come to their attention: Bromazolam, a medication that has since failed to be approved for usage, and nitazene, a synthetic opioid that they allege is “around 1000x the strength of heroin”.
Although there’s a lack of data, Pill Report suggests that the UK is entering a “high-risk” phrase, which could lead to fentanyl working its way into more and more drugs in a similar fashion to the US crisis. They warn this could cause “thousands of overdoses and deaths”.
The Loop also operates from their base in Bristol, where they opened the UK’s first regular drug-checking service earlier this year.
The “landmark” moment for harm reduction runs on the last Saturday of every month, and was brought to life in partnership with the Bristol Drugs Project (BDP) and Bristol City Council and licensed by the Home Office.
The launch of The Loop’s Drug Checking Service follows numerous calls for the UK government to support more drug testing at festivals. Drug checking has been shown to make festivals safer, according to the University of Liverpool. In June 2023, the Home Office retracted its support for drug testing at festivals, a move which was criticised by the live music industry.
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