In the loop?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

37 minutes ago, semmtexx said:

The worst aspect of the law around illicit drug use is in almost all circumstances the law will harm you more than the drug itself. Convictions for prohibited drugs invariably cause more harm then the drug itself. A mate of a mate got caught slipping another mate a pill. Got convicted of dealing. Totally screwing his life chances for ever. That's for giving a mate a drug that's statistically safer than riding horses. Great. 

So yes, testing and education plus legalisation or at least decriminalisation for personal use. Education being a massive part here. 

I got busted for £10's worth of dope by a three car under cover team when I was about 20. I managed to avoid it affecting my employment possibilities for many a year, but it completely fucked up my car, and eventual house insurance etc. In the end it did come to roost when the company I worked for dod mandatory DBS checks on everybody. After working there for about 25 years, I finally got nailed. Fortunately the person in charge said to the board that it was obviously a youthful aberration and claimed that I should be kept on - which is what happened. This fact is made even odder in that I didn't know this bloke from Adam ie. he didn't have to do what he did. Nice one geezer, wherever you are. 

[Northern Soul]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I got busted for £10's worth of dope by a three car under cover team when I was about 20. I managed to avoid it affecting my employment possibilities for many a year, but it completely fucked up my car, and eventual house insurance etc. In the end it did come to roost when the company I worked for dod mandatory DBS checks on everybody. After working there for about 25 years, I finally got nailed. Fortunately the person in charge said to the board that it was obviously a youthful aberration and claimed that I should be kept on - which is what happened. This fact is made even odder in that I didn't know this bloke from Adam ie. he didn't have to do what he did. Nice one geezer, wherever you are. 

 

[Northern Soul]

Read that book my friend .

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

7 minutes ago, Northern Soul said:

Read that book my friend .

Just bought it - the book that is. Thanks for the heads up. 

[Northern Soul]

14 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Just bought it - the book that is. Thanks for the heads up. 

It's a great book. Fascinating in the extreme. English was my favourite subject in school and my English teacher described me as being something of a "Walter Mitty" character, whoever she is...!! 

[semmtexx]

21 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I got busted for £10's worth of dope by a three car under cover team when I was about 20. I managed to avoid it affecting my employment possibilities for many a year, but it completely fucked up my car, and eventual house insurance etc. In the end it did come to roost when the company I worked for dod mandatory DBS checks on everybody. After working there for about 25 years, I finally got nailed. Fortunately the person in charge said to the board that it was obviously a youthful aberration and claimed that I should be kept on - which is what happened. This fact is made even odder in that I didn't know this bloke from Adam ie. he didn't have to do what he did. Nice one geezer, wherever you are. 

Criminal record for 10 quids worth of dope. Utterly pointless. Cannabis laws are a particularly good example here. Getting done for cannabis is almost certainly more harmful than the drug itself.

Great - so we've set up a system where the law causes more harm than the substance the law is supposedly protecting us against. If ever an area required review. 

Edited November 5, 2018 by semmtexx

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 hours ago, semmtexx said:

Criminal record for 10 quids worth of dope. Utterly pointless. Cannabis laws are a particularly good example here. Getting done for cannabis is almost certainly more harmful than the drug itself.

Great - so we've set up a system where the law causes more harm than the substance the law is supposedly protecting us against. If ever an area required review. 

Spot on semmtexx.

[RichardWaller]

On 11/4/2018 at 10:55 AM, amfy said:

It could be that someone who mightn’t otherwise take drugs could decide to on the basis that they can check the safety of them. In my younger days I could have been this person. 

Due to the size of Glastonbury they will need 2-3 tents I think. One down by or in SE corner, & then maybe the opposite corner by Silver Hayes, & potentially up by The Park as well. The queues for it at Boomtown were always long, & that give potential for people to sack off the idea and risk it anyway if they have to wait too long.

Sorry for late reply. Yeah, maybe it could work like that, but I just can't imagine that anyone who's never taken drugs or even thought about taking drugs is going to see a drug testing tent and think to themselves oh I know, I'm going to take drugs, I never thought of that until now. 

There'd have to be a few tents dotted about, yeah. Was it just the one tent at Boomtown? Agree that people might sack it off rather than waiting too long but some drugs being tested is better than none.

[stuie]

On ‎11‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 9:54 PM, glastolover19 said:

I have thought this regarding security,I guess their must be some form of agreement and tbh the security don't care really what you do as long as you ain't disruptive or all round being a dick. Haven't seen anyone hassled over weed for long time there and the ones who were hassled were acting like dicks or dealing. Couple of years ago sat by fence by pyramid waiting for slash and some kid sat in group next to me bragging to his mates"I'm gonna skin up you dare me to ask that copper for a light" Lo and behold 30seconds later he's being frog marched up to compound. Genuinely believe it's how you behave and I had that confirmed by a rozer friend who goes

Last year security were deliberately hanging around stages like The Gulley/Blues looking for people smoking weed.   We watched this happening for quite a while and were surprised that while police were ignoring it, these security guys just seemed to be trying to take peoples weed off them.

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 4:44 PM, bamber said:

Indeed, no downside to testing. It seems to me that folk are taking way less of this stuff anyway, so  make it is safer for those who remain.

In my experience it's the opposite.  I've been around clubs/gigs/festivals for 20 years and drug use seems to be more prevalent than it's ever been these days. There's no sign of this changing anytime soon, so we should be doing what we can to protect people.

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 4:50 PM, bennyhana22 said:

Erm...

Have you been to Boomtown...?

?

Ben

Boomtown is just an extreme example of the situation everywhere these days, mainly due to the age range of the core crowd.  That filters through to everyone else who becomes less inconspicuous due to the (perceived) free nature of the event. 

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 5:00 PM, bamber said:

Boomtown had an Awesome lineup this year to be sure and I could have gone

The weather was shit though.

I should have gone, but I'm a sorta' Glastonbury purist.

Nothing else wil do.

Boomtown will do for me!   That said, it might not be everyone who's never done a class A's cup of tea.

[Havors]

It is definitely a good thing. But how long before the authorities start abusing it and arresting people?? Follow people from the tent... little stop and search... Boom your getting kicked out if not arrested. 

[incident]

56 minutes ago, Havors said:

It is definitely a good thing. But how long before the authorities start abusing it and arresting people?? Follow people from the tent... little stop and search... Boom your getting kicked out if not arrested. 

That's one of the issues that needs to be addressed with the implementation - basically drug testing at a festival can only occur if it's agreed by all 3 of the Festival (who have to pay for it), the local Council (who sign it off as permissible under the licence), and the Police (who have to agree not to target the patrons). Boomtown (and others) can have the loop present because they've managed to get buy-in from the council and the police, and it shows how well it can work.

Reading/Leeds got a bit of flack this year for initially saying they were going to have drug testing, and then backtracking on it - but from reading between the lines it sounds a lot like the local councils weren't on board, and the festival organisers weren't prepared to fight that battle.

[amfy]

10 hours ago, RichardWaller said:

Sorry for late reply. Yeah, maybe it could work like that, but I just can't imagine that anyone who's never taken drugs or even thought about taking drugs is going to see a drug testing tent and think to themselves oh I know, I'm going to take drugs, I never thought of that until now. 

There'd have to be a few tents dotted about, yeah. Was it just the one tent at Boomtown? Agree that people might sack it off rather than waiting too long but some drugs being tested is better than none.

I definitely don’t think anyone who’d never thought of it before would be encouraged by testing being available. For me, loads of my friends took harder drugs than me but I was always scared of what could go wrong. Testing may have tipped me towards it, but I was never ‘anti’ drugs’ in the first place and immersed in drug culture even though I wasn’t personally doing very much. So I’m definitely in the camp that it does no harm and can do a lot of good.

At Boomtown there was just one tent, and it is a festival with pretty prolific drug use. The queue was always long. I was amazed that people would keep standing there for what was evidently quite a long wait. It shows that people really want the opportunity to be safer. 

[glastolover19]

28 minutes ago, amfy said:

I definitely don’t think anyone who’d never thought of it before would be encouraged by testing being available. For me, loads of my friends took harder drugs than me but I was always scared of what could go wrong. Testing may have tipped me towards it, but I was never ‘anti’ drugs’ in the first place and immersed in drug culture even though I wasn’t personally doing very much. So I’m definitely in the camp that it does no harm and can do a lot of good.

At Boomtown there was just one tent, and it is a festival with pretty prolific drug use. The queue was always long. I was amazed that people would keep standing there for what was evidently quite a long wait. It shows that people really want the opportunity to be safer. 

Exactly that. It may persuade the fence sitter to try whereas before they may have aired on the side of caution,however that said I don't think it will encourage as such just some maybe more swayed then were before. But tbh I'd rather have people know the full info before deciding and then after that its entirety up to them wether to risk it or not. 

[glastolover19]

8 hours ago, stu_kent said:

Last year security were deliberately hanging around stages like The Gulley/Blues looking for people smoking weed.   We watched this happening for quite a while and were surprised that while police were ignoring it, these security guys just seemed to be trying to take peoples weed off them.

Can honestly say certainly within the last 10+years I've not seen anyone hassled for dope,I'm not saying doesn't happen just haven't witnessed it as heavy handed as say 20+years back. The only ones I see now tends to be the idiots like I mentioned earlier. I think if you're discrete(ish) and don't act like complete twat then your be left alone. A rozzer relative of mine works the fest and he's told me it's only dealers and people causing disruption they are after

[Boris]

I do remember years ago rolling one up with a mate.. oblivious to the police vehicle that we realised was about 10m behind us- after we'd begun to partake-.. and in quite an empty spot with not many other people nearby. Somehow we got away with it. We weren't taking the piss deliberately!

[Boris]

Actually a seller could do good business if they sat downwind of a testing tent and could justifyably claim their wares were 'tried and definitely tested'. 

[Penrhos]

11 minutes ago, Boris said:

Actually a seller could do good business if they sat downwind of a testing tent and could justifyably claim their wares were 'tried and definitely tested'. 

Im sure there would be an undercover presence to try and detect people doing that (and would you trust a dealer at a festival telling you that anyway).

[glastolover19]

13 hours ago, Boris said:

I do remember years ago rolling one up with a mate.. oblivious to the police vehicle that we realised was about 10m behind us- after we'd begun to partake-.. and in quite an empty spot with not many other people nearby. Somehow we got away with it. We weren't taking the piss deliberately!

In my youth was having a giggle with a friend of mine in car down (what I thought was a) quite lane,I ain't saying what we were doing but all of a sudden a car comes roaring up behind us. My first instinct is we're about to get robbed so stuffed various items in the arm rest of back seat then jumped out of the car ready to take a kicking. As I jumped out and clocked it was the rozzers I thought oh shit,not only are they busting me for public indecency but gonna find the goodies. Fortunately they stuck head in car had quick scan and that was it. They then explained that they had a lot of kids going down this particular lane to get stoned. As the coppers left 1 said "enjoy your evening oh and there's a hotel next town on" then they drove off laughing

[Sawdusty surfer]

On 11/5/2018 at 12:28 AM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I got busted for £10's worth of dope by a three car under cover team when I was about 20. 

My sympathies.

I got busted for hash traces in a chillum in '85 in North Wales. Those were the days when people would get their doors kicked in by half a dozen or more coppers for an eigth of hash.

 The coppers treated it as a major victory. Criminal record for life.

Absolutely bonkers.

Edited November 7, 2018 by Sawdusty Surfer

[glastolover19]

8 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

My sympathies.

I got busted for hash traces in a chillum in '85 in North Wales. Those were the days when people would get their doors kicked in by half a dozen or more coppers for an eigth of hash.

 The coppers treated it as a major victory. Criminal record for life.

Absolutely bonkers.

No a few people who got busted for dope back then completely screwed up their future. One of my oldest friends got busted in London passing a J to a friend,had him up for dealing even though all he had was that 1 J on him. Did some time for that and ended up a smack head for a short time which btw he was introduced to in prison

[battleborn]

On 11/5/2018 at 12:28 AM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I got busted for £10's worth of dope by a three car under cover team when I was about 20. I managed to avoid it affecting my employment possibilities for many a year, but it completely fucked up my car, and eventual house insurance etc. In the end it did come to roost when the company I worked for dod mandatory DBS checks on everybody. After working there for about 25 years, I finally got nailed. Fortunately the person in charge said to the board that it was obviously a youthful aberration and claimed that I should be kept on - which is what happened. This fact is made even odder in that I didn't know this bloke from Adam ie. he didn't have to do what he did. Nice one geezer, wherever you are. 

What the fuck? Ten quids worth of dope? 

 

The coppers wouldn't even stop you for that these days. As much as we bemoan daft drug laws, at least enforcement has become more sensible. And police are actively calling for it to be legalised, or just ignoring it.

[billum]

39 minutes ago, glastolover19 said:

No a few people who got busted for dope back then completely screwed up their future. One of my oldest friends got busted in London passing a J to a friend,had him up for dealing even though all he had was that 1 J on him. Did some time for that and ended up a smack head for a short time which btw he was introduced to in prison

Absolutely ridiculous treatment and not helping anyone at all

I can't remember where I read it, but somewhere there was a comment that Avon & Somerset police turn a blind eye to personal use if not near children, which seems to square with their tolerance at the fest. OTOH the hired security from what I hear seem to take pleasure in confiscating punters' stash and selling it on for their own gain.... Maybe the cops can crack down on that a bit more??

[eFestivals]

10 minutes ago, billum said:

I can't remember where I read it, but somewhere there was a comment that Avon & Somerset police turn a blind eye to personal use if not near children

I had a copper from A&S knock on my door a few weeks back, asking for intel on drug dealing - but also said that she wasn't interested in knowing anything about weed dealers, just class a's.

[Northern Soul]

37 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I had a copper from A&S knock on my door a few weeks back, asking for intel on drug dealing - but also said that she wasn't interested in knowing anything about weed dealers, just class a's.

@eFestivals *answers the door*

Class A's you say? Erm, no officer. Nothing round here....

[glastolover19]

43 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I had a copper from A&S knock on my door a few weeks back, asking for intel on drug dealing - but also said that she wasn't interested in knowing anything about weed dealers, just class a's.

Did you give them any?