Shambhala is asking attendees of the Canadian festival to help crowd-fund a miniature mobile mass spectrometer, a drug screening device that would detect the presence of the fentanyl, an opioid that is significantly stronger than both heroin and morphine. Shambhala has provided drug-screening services for attendees in the past but is seeking to up their precautions in response to an epidemic of abuse currently ongoing in Canada.

The festival kicks off August 5th and is ambitiously looking to raise $250,000 by that time. Some local authorities have balked at the price of the machine and also question how effective it can be, since it is unable to detect the much more potent synthetic form of fentanyl W-18.

The introduction of the device also raises some legal concerns, with the festival’s medical director Sam Gautman warning screening technicians it would be illegal to test attendees’ drugs if they were unable to sign a liability waiver due to intoxication.

The crowd-funding page for Shambhala’s miniature mobile mass spectrometer is available here.

Photo Credit: shambhala_mf/Instagram

H/T: EDM.com

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