AU - 2 dead, 3 critically ill after suspected overdoses at Defqon.1 festival in Sydney, 15 Sept.2018

[EuTuCroquet?]

No to all.

I’m not intending to sound as if I’m victim blaming, as much as I am stating the reality of what happened. The situation is tragic & heartbreaking and if it was an intentional criminal act it should be prosecuted fully. BUT there is a certain amount of responsibility that also lies with the victims. That’s just a fact of the situation. They knowingly participated in a dangerous & illegal act. Did they expect the tragic outcome? Of course not. Did they deserve the tragic outcome? Certainly not!! Do I judge them for their unfortunate choice? Nope not at all. I feel compassion toward them and their families.

You've never tried something new with friends you’re close to and trust?

Eeesh. I'm sorry.

 

[Jennifer17]

You've never tried something new with friends you’re close to and trust?

Eeesh. I'm sorry.

Lol! I haven't either. Not even pot in the seventies.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Lol! I haven't either. Not even pot in the seventies.

Psilocybin mushrooms and, later, Mescaline. Early 1990s.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

‘How many more people have to die?’

Doctors, harm minimisation advocates and drug researchers say there’s a simple solution to stop young Australians dying at music festivals, but it’s the one thing authorities refuse to try.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this morning doubled down on the her government’s opposition to pill testing at music festivals, to the dismay of experts who say changing the government’s approach to drugs would save lives.

Another Australian festival ended in tragedy on Saturday when two young people died at the 10th anniversary of Defqon.1, a hardstyle music event attended by more than 30,000 people.

Advocacy groups, including STA-Safe and some of the nation’s leading drug researchers, have begged the government to drop its “zero-tolerance” stance, insisting the answer is simple — and lives will be saved if the government changed its approach.

“You would hope a tragedy like this would’ve pressed reset on the government’s approach to drugs but it’s clear that hasn’t happened,” Greens MP David Shoebridge told news.com.au.

...

“We sat and talked to 128 young people who had never spoken to anybody about their drug use. We were using something that they want — the results in their pills, to get something we want — to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

“They’ve never been arrested, never seen a doctor about it. These are the invisible majority of functional drug users in Australia and these are the only people we can access.”

Ted Noffs Foundation CEO Matt Noffs, who worked with Dr Caldicott in the pill testing tent, said “rejecting pill testing on ideological, or worse, on a political basis and refusing to listen to the majority of Australians seems like giving up on our kids”.

“Pretending that you can stop kids taking drugs is not only naive — it’s dangerous. It’s time for a new way forward and we have the evidence to back us,” he said.
​

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Updated Wiki page for Defqon:

Defqon.1 Festival - Wikipedia

Defqon.1 Weekend Festival is an annual music festival held in the Netherlands and Chile, and formerly in Australia until it was banned in 2018. It was founded in 2003 by festival organizer Q-dance. The festival plays mostly hardstyle and related genres such as hardcore techno, hard house and hard trance.​

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

deleted double post

 

[flute4peace]

You've never tried something new with friends you’re close to and trust?

Eeesh. I'm sorry.

Um, no. Never done anything illicit or illegal. Nor do I have any desire to.

 

[flute4peace]

Eta: Woops that was supposed to be a link. Will keep trying.

7 die of suspected drug overdoses at Vietnam music festival