Another music festival on Saturday night attracted a big audience of young people- and it seemed inevitable that one young man died of a suspected drug overdose and sixteen others were rushed to hospital but survived. Incredibly, another one hundred and thirty attended the medical facilities on site for adverse reaction to illegal drugs. Earlier this year there was a threat to ban music festivals after two people died at the Defquon music festival, then it was realised that such a move would simply revive the concept of secretive events in the bush where the location was a last minute secret.
The government has dug its toes in and refuses to even consider drug testing at music events. The entire anti drug strategy is based on preventing illicit drugs reaching users and that has been an abject failure because strong demand continues to exist and drug supply is a very profitable money earner for the criminal fraternity. The people churning out illicit drugs couldn't care less about safety aspects. To them, the law of supply and demand applies.
Before this drug culture took hold, alcohol was the magic ingredient that produced euphoria - and it was legal for those of a legal age. Unfortunately, it also dulled the senses and made the user vulnerable to robbery or sexual attack. Drugs delivered this euphoria while still keeping the mind visibly alert when the quantity imbibed was at a safe limit. The problem today is the user has no idea of either the ingredients used or their mind altering strength.
Why is it illegal to supply euphoria inducing drugs when the alcohol equivalent is freely available ? Isn't it time something with the title of " Legal Ecstacy " was available in chemist shops with a prescribed quantity use related to body weight ? This same over use situation applies to alcohol. Anyone who glugged down an entire bottle of whiskey would probably slip into an alcohol induced coma - and die. Those that recklessly over used such a legal drug would suffer a similar fate.
Its time we faced reality and accepted that people are going to die from illegal substances when demand continues and is being supplied by the illegal drug trade. On that Saturday night the majority listening at that music festival probably took some sort of drug stimulant without ill effects. Isn't it time we ensured that a " safe " product of predictable strength was legally available and left the drug decision to the user ?
Despite the best efforts of the police and customs illegal drugs are freely available in this country, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. A lot of the effort is aimed at stopping Marijuana and this is fast becoming a perfectly legal produce in the rest of the world. It is sold and used legally in Canada and Ecuador and now in America's most populous state, California. A change to legality here would put a big dent in the drug trade.
Where drug testing has been tried at music festivals the reaction of the public has been enthusiastic. It is not acceptance of the drug culture but merely a means of ensuring that the worst efforts of the drug cooks can be eliminated before they kill someone. If we continue to stubbornly resist all safety measures we are simply condemning deaths to roll on relentlessly. Its time we re-evaluated this entire drug question.
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