Way out west will be a pilot project for drugs

The Gothenburg Police will make an effort against drugs on Way out west this weekend. The effort is particularly geared towards young festival visitors between the ages of 13 and 20. At the Summerburst festival in the same city earlier this summer, a similar effort was made against the same target group. Then, about 80 cases of drugs were discovered.

-The effort is preventative. We know that young people can be influenced. There will be civilian police officers on site in the castle forest but also representatives from the social services, says Andreas Staf-Welin.

The police in Gothenburg work close to the Let's hear it from the crowd run by the organization Swedish Live in collaboration with, among others, the City of Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg and Way out west, and is funded by the Public Health Authority.

-Many of our members have long had an idea that there are more people affected at festivals today compared to five, six years ago. We see it as a negative trend. The effort at Way out west will be a pilot project, says Marita Isaksson, project manager at Swedish live.

Let's hear it from the crowd aims to change the attitudes of concert and festival visitors. "Hole myths that music, festivals and drugs are connected".

-As a festival and live music organizer, we can influence attitudes. Not only with consequences such as cutting your festival band if you come up with drugs in the festival area, says Marita Isaksson.

The inspiration for the project comes from Denmark, where the Roskilde Festival has for several years collaborated with the music industry on behalf of the authorities to reduce drug use at the festival.

-Many talk a lot about music secreting dopamine but if you drink alcohol, for example, dopamine is not released in the same way.

Has that project worked?

-Yes, it made a difference.

Andreas Staf-Welin of the Gothenburg police says that the general intoxication rate is usually lower on Way out west than on other major festivals.

-But drugs are a crime of discovery. We or the security organization around an event must catch it. Now we are testing this this year, he says.

Way out west will be held in Slottsskogen in Gothenburg between 8 and 10 August.