Ever since Bonnaroo festival was taken over by the dance music conglomerate Live Nation, their tactics on dealing with drug related activities have changed drastically. The Bunk Police, a company that develops and sells Substance Test Kits, have previously been moderately tolerated if not almost endorsed by the festival, allowed to operate as a vendor and even granted booth space.
However, at the most recent Bonnaroo, Adam Auctor (CEO of the Bunk Police) experienced hostile treatment from festival security, likely under new guidance from Live Nation. Rather than backing a safe-use policy, Bonnaroo decided to go with a strict preventative defense. Auctor and his crew had 500 of their test kits (a quarter of their stock) as well as personal belongings confiscated and unreturned. They faced threats of expulsion from the festival and were only able to remain by giving up any Bunk Police activities.
Auctor has released a full statement via the Bonnaroo sub Reddit (full post here). Here at DMNW, we are definitely supporters of a proactive, harm-reduction approach to controlled substances. We hope that the next year, Bonnaroo will be equipped with a different strategy to spread this message.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
