People attending music festivals this long weekend can expect a strong police presence and will see increased medical personnel, amid heightened public attention around the dangers of using illegal drugs.
In Sydney, three music festivals will take place across the Australia Day long weekend; Electric Gardens at Centennial Park and Hardcore Till I Die and Rolling Loud, both at Sydney Showground.
All eyes will be on the events after a spate of drug-related deaths at music festivals across the country sparked a fresh wave of calls for pill testing.
Five drug related deaths - Alex Ross-King, 19, Josh Tam, 22, Callum Brosnan, 19, Joseph Pham, 23 and Diana Nguyen, 21 - are now the focus of an NSW Coroner’s Court inquest.
This weekend's festivals will be among the first events targeted as police trial new Drug Criminal Infringement notices - a $400 on-the-spot fine for people found with small quantities of illegal drugs.
The trial was recommended by an expert panel commissioned by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian after two deaths at Defqon.1 festival in September last year.
“We’re giving frontline police the power to issue on-the-spot fines for low-level possession so they can focus on the real criminals who supply illegal drugs at music festivals. By concentrating our efforts on catching the dealers and traffickers we can cut the flow of illegal drugs and keep young people safe," NSW Police Minister Troy Grant said.
"If you sell this filth to festival-goers who die as a result, you could face up to 20 years in jail. So stop and think if that’s really worth the risk."
Mr Grant said the decision whether to fine or charge someone for drug possession will lie with individual police officers.
Protesters in Sydney call for the NSW government to support a pill testing trial. Source: SBS News
“Thousands of people are expected to attend the three festivals across two days and police from both general duties and specialist units will be patrolling the venue and targeting the supply and possession of illegal drugs,” Deputy Commissioner Metropolitan Field Operations Jeff Loy said.
“There is no such thing as safe drugs. We have seen young people lose their lives from taking illegal drugs in recent weeks, that should be enough to make you think twice about what you put in your body.”
Meanwhile, as medical professionals and advocates continue to call for pill testing, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the government had “strengthened our manpower and messaging".
Mr Hazzard said there would be an increased number of critical care doctors, nurses and paramedics on the ground.
He urged anyone who thinks they may have consumed something dangerous to “get help quickly”, but also warned that “even with the best emergency specialists available, there is no guarantee if you overdose that you will survive".
In addition to increased medical personnel, "chill out zones" will available so people can cool down and rehydrate.
“If you or a friend is confused, dizzy, too hot, vomiting or has a fast heart rate, get to the medical tent fast. You won’t be punished for getting medical help,” chief health officer Dr Kerry Chang said.
Maximum temperatures in Sydney will top more than 30 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, and according to Dr Chang, hot weather and dancing can exacerbate the effects of MDMA.
Adriana Buccianti is calling for pill testing to be introduced at festivals after her son, Daniel, died after taking drugs at Rainbow Serpent in 2012. Source: change.org
The blunt warnings come as the mother of a 34-year-old who died at a Victorian music festival in 2012 delivers a petition with more than 100,000 signatures in favour of pill-testing to NSW parliament.
On Friday, Adriana Buccianti will meet with senior NSW Labor politicians on the steps of parliament, as she pleads for politicians to introduce pill testing.
"My world fell apart when police arrived at my door to tell me my boy had died at a festival. There's no other word to describe it but horror,” she wrote on change.org.
“I can't get my son back but I want to make sure no-one else has to go through the hell of losing their child to a mistake like I did.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there is not enough evidence pill testing will save lives and that implementing it would give people the “green light” to take drugs.
