Drug monitoring by samples seized at 2018, 2022 and 2023 BOOM festival editions
Drugs are controlled internationally through the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In Portugal, the information contained in these conventions is transposed into Decree-Law nº. 15/93 of January 22nd, which controls, monitors and prevents the trafficking of these substances in the country. The Drugs and Toxicology Sector of the Portuguese Judiciary Police’s Forensic Science Laboratory, with its national coverage, responsible for analysing and preparing a forensic report on all samples suspected o contain such substances.
The use of drugs for recreational purposes may vary over time, therefore monitoring these substances is essential not only for forensic and drug intelligence purposes but also for helping health authorities to develop strategies for prevention and risk reduction. These studies can be performed through analysis of substances seized by Law Enforcement authorities since the availability for illicit substances is not a constant in time. Accordingly, the objective of this work was to monitor this availability through samples seized in festivals, specifically in the 3 last editions of BOOM festival, namely in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
The samples analysed in this work resulted from seizures carried out in Idanha-a-Nova during the BOOM festival in 2018, 2022 and 2023 , mostly inside the festival area. The samples were analysed according to validated methodologies by the laboratory. In short, SLE was applied using chloroform-alkaline extraction and methanol/dichloromethane in ultrasound bath. Later samples were analysed by GC-FID, GC/MS and/or FTIR.
This work resulted in the analysis of 936 samples, namely 354 (2018), 166 (2022) and 416 (2023). Blotters, cakes, chocolate, gas cylinder, gummy, herbal, herbal blend, liquid, micro-tablets, mushrooms, oil, pasty product, powder, resin, seeds, solid products and tablets were analysed. Mostly phytocannabinoids, stimulants and hallucinogenic substances were found. However, changes on drugs seized trends were observed when comparing the 3 festival editions. Part of these results were in line with the drug availability during 2018 and 2022 estimated by seized drug reported to EMCDDA. Additionally, it was also possible to identify substances not controlled, as well as some substances that were recently included in the United Nations Convention, but which appeared as new psychoactive substances.
This study provided important information about the market the drugs that circulated at the Boom festival in 2018, 2022 and 2023. The comparison of the three editions also showed how the market is always in constant change. Therefore, this study highlights the value of continuous monitoring of the availability of illicit substances of abuse in festivals, which should be disclosed to the scientific community and society. Such as our presentation about the discovery of changa at Boom festival and shared in Lisbon Addictions 2019.
