Belfast City councillors have called for a pilot of drug and pill testing facilities at major events, but a council report has concluded that no legislative framework, funding mechanism or operational model exists to allow such a service.

The motion, brought by councillor Micky Murray earlier this year, argued that drugs should be treated as a healthcare issue rather than a policing matter. He said that not supporting harm reduction methods puts people at risk and that providing information would prevent deaths and harm without increasing drug use.

Responsibility for issuing licences for drug testing rests with the Department of Health's Medicines Regulatory Group, not the Home Office as in Great Britain. Department officials said no formal licence application has ever been received and that a range of issues would need to be addressed before one could be considered. The department stated it stands ready to support the council but remains conscious of resource, licensing, and legislative implications.

Opposition to the proposal came from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who said the only responsible message on illegal drugs is not to take them. Proponents of testing point to back-of-house services at festivals in the Republic of Ireland and England, where surrendered substances are tested and warnings are issued if dangerous adulterants or high strengths are found.

At Electric Picnic, the HSE's Safer Nightlife Programme collected about 300 samples, resulting in 14 risk messages and the identification of substances never before seen in Ireland. The Loop, a charity operating at English festivals, said tests in the last six months have shown MDMA pills of variable and unexpectedly high strengths, and that one pill does not equate to a single dose.

Janine Milburn, whose 18-year-old daughter Georgia died after taking two MDMA pills at a festival in Portsmouth in 2018, said testing services could have given her daughter a professional barrier and another chance to decide not to take the drug. She now runs a harm reduction charity and speaks to young people about the risks.

Professor Anne Campbell, from the Drug and Alcohol Research Network at Queen's University Belfast, said drug testing already exists in Northern Ireland but results are not shared with the wider public. She said wastewater analysis shows a sharp rise in ketamine and cocaine use, and that telling people not to take drugs does not work given the year-on-year rise in deaths.