For those who attended the EDM festival Mysteryland in Bethel Woods, NY, you may have been offered a drug test kit from someone from the Bunk Police. Considering that the organization smuggled in 15,000 test kits, we’d be surprised if you weren’t offered one.
The Bunk Police believes that drug use at festivals is inevitable, and stands by the slogan “What the fuck, this shit is bunk.” A representative of the company, known only as Adam, spoke about their presence at Mysteryland: “There are quite a few deaths every year from adulterated substances and permanent injuries that occur, so we know that this prevents some of that.”
Festivities are often put in a difficult position with regards to drugs, on account of a piece of legislation called the RAVE Act. Essentially, if festivals acknowledge the use of drugs on site, then the promoters are personally liable for any potential injuries or deaths. Thus, by allowing groups like The Bunk Police to operate, they would be implicitly acknowledging drug use and could face legal prosecution.
(Read more about the RAVE Act and this conflict in our exclusive feature)
Thus, the smuggling of the test kits. The 15,000 kits will be the feature of a new episode of This Is Life with Lisa Ling, on CNN, which goes in-depth into this interesting conflict between drugs and festivals. We’re glad to see that the Bunk Police were able to spread awareness by sharing these test kits throughout the festival grounds.
Watch the trailer for the CNN episode here.