Debate contribution: Drug-testing Schemes

Debate contribution by Mr Alan Chambers on 30 September 2025.

MLA: Mr Alan Chambers
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 30 September 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Drug-testing Schemes
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5143054

Text

From the outset, something that can never be overemphasised is the fact that there is no such thing as safe drug taking. Every illicit drug carries with it the potential to harm and devastate families. Too many lives in Northern Ireland have already been cut short by substances, for which society may have thought the risk was limited, but, in reality, are laced with danger. As a parent or grandparent, watching our loved ones excitedly leave the house to go to a festival is a common occurrence. For some people, it is a rite of passage. In that excitement, we also consider what would be any family's worst nightmare — young people whose promise will never be fulfilled because of a single pill swallowed in a field or a powder taken at a party; a moment's action with potentially life-changing consequences. As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as too much awareness or too much focus placed on preventing those drugs from being consumed or brought to festivals in the first place. Yet, as legislators, we are also confronted with the stark truth that drugs are present at concerts, festivals and a multitude of other social locations. They are circulating, and they are being taken. To pretend otherwise would be to close our eyes to the reality on the ground. That is why the debate matters. We have seen in the Republic of Ireland, through the Health Service Executive's drug-checking scheme, that rapid testing at festivals can identify highly potent or contaminated substances. Importantly, those warnings are not a green light for drug use; they are a red light flashing urgently to tell as many people as possible who might pick it up that this substance could kill you or at least cause you some serious harm. That is the distinction that we must grasp. Instinctively, the call for a similar service in Northern Ireland is compelling, and I note the important work under way here between the PSNI, Forensic Science Northern Ireland and Queen's University. However, of course and understandably, any decision or process about a Northern Ireland testing scheme is likely to be much more complex than it may at first appear. We could do nothing without the necessary expert Home Office approval, and, again, I stress that our first and foremost priority should remain on the prevention of drug taking in the first place. The safest option is never to take drugs at all. That message must remain at the heart of our public health strategy. Alongside prevention, education and enforcement, we must be responsive to other steps that can demonstrably save lives. That is why my party and I are happy to support the motion and receive an update from the Minister. In the meantime, I hope that the PSNI will continue to pursue those evil people who are making fortunes out of peddling a range of addictive poisons to our citizens.

490 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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