Belfast councillor claims taking illegal drugs is not a ‘police issue’

Festival-goers who use illegal drugs should be allowed to submit them for testing rather than face legal sanctions, a Belfast councillor has suggested.

Alliance Cllr Micky Murray is pushing for officials to be allowed to test banned substances for purity at large outdoor music events in Northern Ireland. Depending on the results, a warning would be sent to attendees.

The Christian Institute has consistently warned that so-called harm reduction measures legitimise illegal drug taking and give users the impression that harmful drugs can be taken ‘safely’.

Messaging on drugs

The local authority previously backed a motion by Murray to introduce free drug testing services at festivals in Belfast. But council officials subsequently rejected the bid, finding no clear way for the pilot scheme to be legally implemented.

Interviewed for a BBC documentary on the issue, the former Belfast City Mayor maintained that introducing the scheme “isn’t going to increase people taking drugs” and claimed that taking drugs is a “healthcare” not “policing” issue.

In June, Carla Lockhart MP criticised the Public Health Agency (HSA) for promoting a ‘harm reduction’ approach, after it advised festival-goers intent on taking drugs to “start with a small dose” and not to “mix” them.

Mrs Lockhart urged the HSA to remove the social media post and to “make clear that its message to young people is straightforward and unambiguous: never start taking illegal drugs, never assume they are safe and never believe there are no consequences”.

Drug deaths

According to latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), there were 251 drug-related deaths registered in 2024.

NISRA reported that the 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 age groups together accounted for 56.6 per cent of all drug-related deaths, and that Belfast “had the highest number (78) of drug-related deaths in Northern Ireland”.