Anca Frinculescu

TICTAC | London (UK)

Lecture:
You can’t overdose on music, can you? - The drugs that didn’t make it to the festivals
 
TICTAC is a Home Office licensed company specialized in drug identification, drug analysis and drug information with twenty years of experience in amnesty bin analysis from clubs and music festivals.
The aim of this presentation is to give an overview of the intended drug use at some of the most popular music festivals in the UK. The samples are analysed on-site using FTIR and Raman spectrometers and back in the lab by GC-MS. All solid forms (tablets and capsules) are checked against the TICTAC visual identification software.
The drug of choice is MDMA in tablet form with new shapes, logos, sizes or colours every year followed by MDMA crystals, ketamine, benzodiazepines and cocaine. The highlights of the summary are the increase in popularity of 2C-B tablets, N-ethylpentylone being sold as MDMA and the variability in aspect for ketamine with a brief report on the commonly encountered cutting agents.
On a long-term view, performing back-of-house drug testing at music festivals gives an insight into the situation on the illegal market when it comes to new drugs, consumption trends and associated health risks. Therefore, amnesty bin analysis is not only a useful means of intelligence, but also a harm reduction tool.