It’s the start of a new festival season, as music lovers far and wide prepare for a summer full of multi-day events featuring some of their favorite artists and DJs, along with plenty of dancing. For many, the festival experience also involves consuming a variety of drugs to amp up the experience.

This year’s Drug Safety at Music Festivals study, conducted by research firm Innerbody, sheds additional light on the habits and plans of festival goers this year while also addressing some of the best ways for folks to stay safe should they decide to consume substances at these events.

The study uses survey data from 900 people and suggests that about 87% of festival attendees plan to take drugs, a 10% increase from last year’s figure. 

Examining Most Popular Festival Drugs, Genres and Events With Most Drug Use

The study focuses on a variety of topics surrounding drug use at music festivals, beginning with the most popular substances that festival goers plan to use during the upcoming season. 

Alcohol is always the top substance consumed at festivals, but the study did not include it and focused solely on drug usage. That said, cannabis takes the top slot by far, with 65.3% of festival goers who plan to use drugs saying they will consume cannabis. Authors note that the widespread legalization of recreational cannabis across the U.S. may make cannabis a less risky option for attendees. 

Cocaine was the second most popular choice (46.5%), followed by psychedelics (26.1%), MDMA (19.4%), ketamine (19.3%), amphetamines (13.7%), opioids (12.1%), benzodiazepines (10.1%), synthetic drugs like bath salts or spice (9.7%), hallucinogens like salvia or peyote (6.1%) and inhalants (6%).

Plans to use cocaine are up from last year’s numbers, though there was a 2% drop in the number of people who plan to use opioids — which authors noted as surprising given the continued opioid overdose epidemic though still “encouraging.”

The study found that rock, hip-hop and EDM are the genres most likely to have audience members under the influence of drugs, with Wisconsin’s Rock Fest claiming the top slot as the festival with the most anticipated drug use, according to survey participants. The weeklong Burning Man festival held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert took the second slot, while Coachella was third place for most anticipated drug use.

Festival Drug Concealment, Consumption and Drug Testing Behaviors

The study also looked at drug concealment, consumption and testing behaviors among those planning to consume for festivals, finding that just 32.6% bring their own drugs with them to the event while the remaining 67.4% buy them at the festival. Last year’s results found that 46% planned to bring their own drugs to the events. Millennials were the most likely generation to buy drugs at the venue rather than purchasing them beforehand.

In regard to drug testing, a majority (80.3%) test their drugs before the event or festival, an increase from last year’s approximately 67% figure. 

“This increase in testing could be due to more awareness surrounding the U.S. opioid crisis and the public education efforts that have taken place,” authors note. “But while the data is encouraging, it still reflects the reality that 20% of festival goers could be taking potentially dangerous drugs at concerts.”

Concealing drugs in backpacks and pockets are the most common choices, and researchers also found that attendees tend to take drugs in one of three places with a fairly balanced distribution: the restroom (29%), within the crowd (31%) or outside the festival gates (33%).

Health Issues, Risky Behavior Harm Reduction and Festival Drug Use

Though authors indicate that the broader prevalence of drug testing is encouraging, the study notes that more than half of survey participants said they had experienced health-related issues that warranted medical attention while under the influence of drugs at festivals. The most common complications attendees experienced were heat stroke, a bad trip and dehydration. 

The survey also found that drug use tended to lead festival goers to engage in riskier behavior at the events, with 66% of both Gen Z and millennial respondents reporting they had done so while attending festivals under the influence. Engaging in sex with a stranger was one of the most prevalent examples, most prominent among millennials, while one in every four millennials also reported “driving dangerously” after a festival ended.

Authors note that abstaining and testing drugs before using them are some of the best harm reduction methods, though surveyed festival goers largely reported self-education about the drugs they were using, the risks and potential side effects as their go-to safety measure. The second-most common strategy was starting with a low dosage, followed by drug testing.

“Being aware of your surroundings, remaining close to your friends, keeping hydrated, and familiarizing yourself with the location of medical tents are also easy and practical ways to help stay safe at music festivals,” authors close.

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Weed is finally legal in Germany, but it may still be verboten at one of the country’s signature events. According to Forbes, the “German federal state of Bavaria is considering the possibility of restricting cannabis use at the famous Oktoberfest following the legalization of cannabis for personal use.”

“Bavaria government aims to restrict public spaces for consuming cannabis at events like Oktoberfest by establishing cannabis-free zones, as first reported by DPA (German Press Agency),” Forbes reported. “Oktoberfest in Munich is the world’s largest beer festival, featuring traditional Bavarian music, food, and the consumption of about 6 million litres of beer. The festival spans a two-week period, culminating on the first Sunday in October.”

Earlier this month, on the first day of April, German citizens celebrated the end of pot prohibition, which made it the largest country in Europe to pass legalization. It is the third country in the European Union to legalize weed, following Malta and Luxembourg.

Under the law, Germans aged 18 and older are legally permitted to have up to 25 grams of weed and public and up to 50 grams at home.

The law also permits so-called “cannabis clubs,” which will open for business on July 1. Those clubs will allow up to 500 members to personally grow cannabis, but the law does not permit commercial weed sales.

The Associated Press has more background on the new cannabis law:

“Individuals would be allowed to buy up to 25 grams per day, or a maximum 50 grams per month — a figure limited to 30 grams for under-21s. Membership in multiple clubs would not be allowed. The clubs’ costs would be covered by membership fees, which would be staggered according to how much marijuana members use. The government plans a ban on advertising or sponsoring cannabis, and the clubs and consumption won’t be allowed in the immediate vicinity of schools, playgrounds and sports facilities. An evaluation of the legislation’s effect on protection of children and youths is to be carried out within 18 months of the legislation taking effect…The plan falls significantly short of the government’s original ambitions, which foresaw allowing the sale of cannabis to adults across the country at licensed outlets. The project was scaled back following talks with the European Union’s executive commission. Parliament’s upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 state governments, could in principle delay the legislation, though it doesn’t formally require the chamber’s approval. Bavaria’s conservative state government has said it would examine whether legal action against the liberalization plan is possible. The legislation is one of several that Scholz’s coalition, which has since become highly unpopular as a result of economic weakness and persistent infighting, pledged when it took office in 2021. It has eased rules on gaining citizenship and ended restrictions on holding dual citizenship. Among other policies, it also plans to make it easier for transgender, intersex and nonbinary people to change their gender and name in official registers.”

Lawmakers in Germany approved the measure in February.

“We have two goals: to crack down on the black market and improved protection of children and young people,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said at the time.

As Forbes reported, following the launch of legalization on April 1, “states like Bavaria are attempting to restrict consumption in public spaces despite the new legislation allowing consumers to use cannabis following specific rules.”

“Although no final decision was made at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as specified by the Head of Chancellery and State Minister of Bavaria Florian Herrmann, Bavaria’s ministries are currently exploring additional ‘restriction options’ for cannabis. The aim is to make cannabis consumption less appealing, with a decision likely to be made next week,” the outlet said. 

“On March 25, one week before cannabis officially became legal for personal use, Bavaria released a catalog of fines related to cannabis consumption in public spaces, as the authorities in the federal states are now responsible for imposing fines for violations of the law, establishing fines of up to €1,000 ($1,085) for consuming cannabis in unauthorized public spaces or in the presence of children or young people, and up to €30,000 ($32,564) for activities related to advertising and distributing cannabis,” the outlet continued. “In addition to Oktoberfest, where beer gardens and outdoor areas of restaurants might be off-limits for cannabis, local authorities are also evaluating implementing this restriction in Englischer Garten (English Garden), one of Germany’s most renowned and largest public parks.”

In a post on X on Tuesday, Markus Söder, Minister-President of Bavaria and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), said that Bavaria would not become a “stoner’s paradise.” Söder opposed cannabis legalization, a view that was shared by conservatives in Germany’s parliament. 

“You’re asserting here in all seriousness as health minister … that we will curb consumption among children and young people with the legalization of further drugs,” conservative lawmaker Tino Sorge said to Lauterbach during the debate in parliament earlier this year. “That’s the biggest nonsense I’ve ever heard.”

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As social distancing becomes the watchword, we’ll keep you updated on postponed festivals and conferences.

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