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Drug Testing on Entry


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41 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

Dogs can be trained to sniff for anything, their sense of smell is absolutely crazy, but they’re normally only trained to sniff for one specific thing.

I'm not exactly sure at what point it was in my life but I once went searching for the Holy Grail (well, it was in those days) of non porous plastic bags. During my research I discovered that it is estimated that a black bears' sense of smell is about seven times greater than a bloodhound's. I then discovered that such bags existed, and were used by walkers etc to store food high up in trees when hiking in American mountain areas which held bears. This research indicated that bears would not smell through these bags. It also said that the American Navy had taken the bags down below sea level to imnsane depths and no water entered through the bag or its seal. I just HAD to get me some of those bags, I thought to myself. I did indeed get them. I got them from some American camping / hiking type on line shop.

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5 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I'm not exactly sure at what point it was in my life but I once went searching for the Holy Grail (well, it was in those days) of non porous plastic bags. During my research I discovered that it is estimated that a black bears' sense of smell is about seven times greater than a bloodhound's. I then discovered that such bags existed, and were used by walkers etc to store food high up in trees when hiking in American mountain areas which held bears. This research indicated that bears would not smell through these bags. It also said that the American Navy had taken the bags down below sea level to imnsane depths and no water entered through the bag or its seal. I just HAD to get me some of those bags, I thought to myself. I did indeed get them. I got them from some American camping / hiking type on line shop.

Hopefully they don’t have bears on the gates this year then.

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1 minute ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

Hopefully they don’t have bears on the gates this year then.

Well if they did, and I was actually going to Glastonbury, then I'd be alright.

As an aside, I once went to a bears bar in Benidorm. While in there I tried to go to the downstairs mens toilet. However, there was a queue on the stairs down to it. I was told by the person at the top end of the queue that it wasn't a queue for 'actually' using the toilet, but that some bloke down there was noshing off other blokes one by one. It turns out that that bloke was one of my gay mates. I hasten to add that such was my desire to actually use the toilet that I left the bears bar and went back to our hotel to do the necessary.

 

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I've been stopped more times -on the way- to the festival than I have going through the gates. I used to drive on the A361 past Gate A on the way to the campervan fields, and theres a big layby a few miles from the site where most years, the police were 'randomly' pulling people in, I used to drive my rough round the edges VW T2 and I'd get directed in most years.

 

They were checking EVERYTHING, the customs guys checked the barcodes on our beer to make sure it was duty paid, VOSA were there to check my van - they jacked it up and basically did an MOT on it, and the Police went through our stuff with a dog hanging around, the dog didn't go in the van. I suspect the dog was to worry people, but we were 'clean' so kept calm and they always waved us on after the checks, but it was watching how the other stop-ees behaved that was interesting, always a van full of blokes that was being taken to pieces with raised voices and pockets being emptied etc 🙂

 

Going into the site seems to be random, but based on likelyness of carrying - I'm old, and have been stopped once in the last ten festivals, and that was by the angriest security man I have ever met, he was so fucking rude it was insane, he tipped my bag over the table, which spilled stuff onto the floor and I thought he was going to rip my coat off my back when he found my powerbank in my pocket - his colleages eventually stepped in to pull him aside, it was surreal, this was 8PM on one of the evenings.

 

I only use Gate C (which I go in and out of multiple times a day) and the only time I've seen sniffer dogs was after the Machester bombing, when everyone had to have address labels on their bags, they just roamed the queue on wednesday morning, didn't see them after that.

As for the article, I saw it a few days ago and it's so poorly worded i'm not even sure what angle they are going for, it's not even clear if it's shitty reporting, or the councile people don't understand whats being proposed (or both I guess)

 

It seems that the council think that 'front of house' testing will mean dealers won't bother to bring anything, as everyone will be bringing their own stash, which is bizarre.

 

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Was pulled at APE this year from a sniffer dog who very intently sniffed my pocket which contained...my vape. They took me to one side and did a very cursory search and let me on my way - it was a third party security company who obviously didn't give a shit. 

In terms of being searched going into the festival itself, happened to me twice - once just caught the eye of a security guard randomly who took some laughing gas off me. Second time was going through with my parents, they patted my bag down a bit, took one look at my 60+ year old dad and said we were clearly just a nice family so let us through.

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I've never really been searched on first entry to the site, the most I got was a cursory squeeze of my bag and a quick look inside.

Re-entering with an ez-pass out wristband however, I'll get searched more often than not.

I'll always be chatty and  ask why and sometimes its because I looked suspicious but more often than not, the security guards were bored and needed something to do.

I like to think because of my generally pleasant demeanour, I can chat and joke with the guards in a relaxed enough fashion so that they abandon their searching of my possessions before they find where my naughty things are.

It's worked a dream so far, so here's hoping it will continue 

 

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6 hours ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

 

The article is a mess, front of house testing does not literally mean front of house testing, if just means somewhere you can go to test any drugs (a tiny bit of your stash obviously) that you’ve got at any point during the festival to see if they’re pure etc. The councillors seem to think it means testing on entry, which it very definitely doesn’t mean.

Yeah, they're not the brightest. Imagine! Mass testing like that would be much more of a health hazard than the drugs themselves 😅

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I've got a terrible babyface so generally don't get searched going into gigs, festivals etc. Reckon security are more likely to pull me aside to ask where my mum is and why I'm wandering about alone. 

The one exception was Glasto 2017. Camped in the Oxfield outside the gates and from the Thursday(?) onward it seemed like they were checking practically everyone with an EPO wristband every single time we came through. Chatter in the Whatsapp group said that a fair few stewards had been caught with gear on them so I suppose that was why. Also saw a bunch of Shelter volunteers get caught while working on Gate C in 2019. One must have had enough on them to deal because a bunch of police showed up and they were carted away in tears. 

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Entering Gate C from CV East for the day they do random bag searches and a gentle pat down, so if you’ve anything to hide it’s best to put it in your pants. What it’s then not a good idea to do is visit the long drops on the left just as you’ve got in, and then forgot that you stashed something in your pants, or so I hear anyway. 

Edited by Deaf Nobby Burton
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13 hours ago, paulshane said:

I've been stopped more times -on the way- to the festival than I have going through the gates. I used to drive on the A361 past Gate A on the way to the campervan fields, and theres a big layby a few miles from the site where most years, the police were 'randomly' pulling people in, I used to drive my rough round the edges VW T2 and I'd get directed in most years.

 

They were checking EVERYTHING, the customs guys checked the barcodes on our beer to make sure it was duty paid, VOSA were there to check my van - they jacked it up and basically did an MOT on it, and the Police went through our stuff with a dog hanging around, the dog didn't go in the van. I suspect the dog was to worry people, but we were 'clean' so kept calm and they always waved us on after the checks, but it was watching how the other stop-ees behaved that was interesting, always a van full of blokes that was being taken to pieces with raised voices and pockets being emptied etc 🙂

 

Going into the site seems to be random, but based on likelyness of carrying - I'm old, and have been stopped once in the last ten festivals, and that was by the angriest security man I have ever met, he was so fucking rude it was insane, he tipped my bag over the table, which spilled stuff onto the floor and I thought he was going to rip my coat off my back when he found my powerbank in my pocket - his colleages eventually stepped in to pull him aside, it was surreal, this was 8PM on one of the evenings.

 

I only use Gate C (which I go in and out of multiple times a day) and the only time I've seen sniffer dogs was after the Machester bombing, when everyone had to have address labels on their bags, they just roamed the queue on wednesday morning, didn't see them after that.

As for the article, I saw it a few days ago and it's so poorly worded i'm not even sure what angle they are going for, it's not even clear if it's shitty reporting, or the councile people don't understand whats being proposed (or both I guess)

 

It seems that the council think that 'front of house' testing will mean dealers won't bother to bring anything, as everyone will be bringing their own stash, which is bizarre.

 

That's an unholy fascistic assault on people who have, essentially, been segregated on the account that they are not (as a Brummie ex colleague once said)  'tenting it'. He meant camping in a tent, if anybody needed the translation. Seriously though, one really could argue that that action is discriminatory. Well, I could, in any case. 

In fact, thinking about it further, not only were the police involved, but every other c**t had got in on the act too. It's a wonder the 'system' didn't send out some Funeral Arrangement Plan 'Advisors', a bloke who is head of the local Neighbourhood Watch scheme - a position he has since held like Putin!, Someone from Specsavers trying to flog you a plan. Meanwhile, the police would actually just like to flog you. 

As I said, this is an assault on the campervan and caravan owners of the UK. I sincerely hope that someone has sent in no less than a stiff letter of complaint to the Camping and Caravanning Club. That'll show the bastards! Oh, hold on a minute....

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3 hours ago, oakdown said:

I've got a terrible babyface so generally don't get searched going into gigs, festivals etc. Reckon security are more likely to pull me aside to ask where my mum is and why I'm wandering about alone. 

I came on here to indicate that the above is very funny. Then I thought about it and wondered if you mightn't think so. So then I started to think 'should I abort mission' or not. I decided not, and that it was self deprecating humour. Maybe everybody got that straight away. Maybe I did. Maybe they didn't because it was never meant that way. Not sure now.*

 

* Well, I think we can all agree that that smoke worked!

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2 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I came on here to indicate that the above is very funny. Then I thought about it and wondered if you mightn't think so. So then I started to think 'should I abort mission' or not. I decided not, and that it was self deprecating humour. Maybe everybody got that straight away. Maybe I did. Maybe they didn't because it was never meant that way. Not sure now.*

 

* Well, I think we can all agree that that smoke worked!

Oh no worries, I can see the humour in it 😄 Little annoying to have to whip out the ID for a Red Bull but, as I'm always hearing, I'll be thankful for it one day. 

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3 hours ago, oakdown said:

Oh no worries, I can see the humour in it 😄 Little annoying to have to whip out the ID for a Red Bull but, as I'm always hearing, I'll be thankful for it one day. 

I had no idea that you had to show ID for a Red Bull in any instance. I've only just found out that young(er.Much younger) people 'have' to go to college, or do an apprenticeship, or some such. That, to me, is fucking, out fucking rageous! So, the people who had a ball when they were young, don't want the people who are now the same age as they were then, to have a ball!? Weigh anchors.

Edited by Yoghurt on a Stick
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As I put on here at the time of the last festival, we searched going in and OUT at the gate C. 

 

After I left Radiohead to get some more alcohol they went to the extent of shining torches up my nose to prove I had taken something. Right obnoxious bold 50 year old doorman. They never found anything each time but saw a few people get taxes on the way out - mostly young lads

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5 minutes ago, Upside down frowner said:

As I put on here at the time of the last festival, we searched going in and OUT at the gate C. 

 

After I left Radiohead to get some more alcohol they went to the extent of shining torches up my nose to prove I had taken something. Right obnoxious bold 50 year old doorman. They never found anything each time but saw a few people get taxes on the way out - mostly young lads

Yes as I said further up the thread, this happened to my mate going out of Gate C, he was a bit drunk so they stopped him, searched him and took what he had away from him. Annoying thing is for my sober mate who was just helping him back to the caravan they also searched them and took all their stuff away too. They also lined them both up and photographed them before sending them on their way, not sure what the point of that was.

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Maybe in misremembering but I can’t remember seeing dogs any time I’ve gone in. Maybe because I’m in the queue from about 5am so through the gates pretty quickly? I’ve been searched re-entering when I went to the car park to help my friends bring their stuff in but had nothing on me anyway. Seemed like a fairly basic search too. 
Although I do wonder if they’ll be on it even more this year after that report of cocaine/MDMA traces in the water? 

Edited by DareToDibble
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20 minutes ago, DareToDibble said:

Although I do wonder if they’ll be on it even more this year after that report of cocaine/MDMA traces in the water? 

Thats all forgotten about 3 years on anyway in the media. Its like that every year i'm sure at festivals all over the country.

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3 hours ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

Yes as I said further up the thread, this happened to my mate going out of Gate C, he was a bit drunk so they stopped him, searched him and took what he had away from him. Annoying thing is for my sober mate who was just helping him back to the caravan they also searched them and took all their stuff away too. They also lined them both up and photographed them before sending them on their way, not sure what the point of that was.

Honestly this thread is making me paranoid that the checks are more then they are. If a security guard was shining a torch up my nose I'd certainly be complaining to his supervisor about an invasive search.

 

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55 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Honestly this thread is making me paranoid that the checks are more then they are. If a security guard was shining a torch up my nose I'd certainly be complaining to his supervisor about an invasive search.

 

I've been staying in CV East for at least the last 10 festivals, which means I've gone through Gate C at least twice every day of the festival.  Seen a minority of people in front of me stopped, or in the process of having their stuff checked, but never had myself or companions stopped once.

When I've seen them doing it, it does seem to have been consistent with what's referred to in that article, so not too much to worry about - "Finally, and on a serious note, always remember your rights. Security guards cannot legally detain you unless they suspect you for an indictable offence, but they can eject you from the premises or stop you from coming in. If you agree to a search with security, they can only check your bags, pockets and outer layers of clothing and only on entrance to the premises. They also have the power to confiscate anything illegal that they find if you agreed to the search"
 

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