According to the charity, new ecstasy pills discovered at the Parklife festival this weekend were approximately 1.5 times more potent than the standard dose.
The charity attends festivals across the country and will attend ‘about 8 festivals this summer,’ testing drugs found on revellers in an effort to double down on the potential harm caused by risky pills.
The Loop shared their findings on Twitter after attending their first festival of the year, writing: “New pills in ’22: The Loop tested a selection of MDMA pills for the first time at Parklifefest, our first festival of the 2022 UK summer festival season. The average MDMA pill strength was 170mg, which is 1.5 times the average adult dose.”
The charity then shared images of the pills, which included the following: Bi-layer Louis Vuitton (199mg), Dollar Eyes Emoji (143mg), Small Lips Trump (188mg), Lucky Clover (208mg), Dollar Moneybag (118mg), Dutch/Canal House (160mg), Fist Emoji (223mg) MDMA, and VW Camper Van (163mg).
While these appear to be improvements to the emoji keyboard, they are causing concern among researchers.
“We’re at Parklife 2022 testing drugs behind the scenes and here’s what we’ve found,” said Jay Jackson, a researcher for the charity. “Last year, almost half [45 percent] of the samples that we thought were MDMA turned out to contain no MDMA whatsoever.”
While this was far less of a problem in 2022, with only 11% of samples containing no MDMA, ‘we can maybe say that the MDMA shortage is over,’ it ‘doesn’t mean that taking drugs is any safer.’ The Loop’s Parklife findings show that pills are stronger than ever.
So, what advice does the charity have for staying safe during the upcoming festival season?
“As always, the safest way to take drugs is not to consume them at all,” the charity advises. “Even high purity drugs carry a significant risk.”
“If you are going to use drugs, it is absolutely necessary that you have done some research to understand the risks you may be exposed to, as well as what you can do to mitigate those risks.”
However, the charity deviates: “If you’re going to take them, stay low and slow, drink water, and #justsayknow.”
FRANK can provide you with friendly, confidential drug advice. You can contact them by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, or visiting their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They also offer live chat from 2pm to 6pm every day of the week.
