Two men are in a critical condition, revellers have been carted off in stretchers and dozens of others arrested for drug possession at three separate music festivals in Sydney and Victoria on Saturday.
Police in Sydney have charged ten people with drug supply offences as thousands of young people descended on Hardcore Till I Die, an electronic dance event at Homebush, and Electric Gardens at Centennial Park following a string of drug-related deaths in recent months at music festivals.
Among the arrests at Homebush, police searched a 17-year-old boy, from Castle Hill, and allegedly found 579 capsules and $2075 cash. He has been charged with supply prohibited drug, deal with property proceeds of crime, and possessing a prohibited drug.
However, some people attempting to get into the festivals have lashed out at police tactics — saying they have been wrongly strip searched and then had their tickets declared void.
“How degrading is it to be made to strip naked, squat and cough whilst having two police officers stare you down, judging you and, in the end, after having nothing on you, get refused entry and have you ticket confiscated and ripped up in front of you while you’re watching them refund other people’s tickets,” one disgruntled commenter wrote on Facebook, who attempted to get into the Homebush event.
“I don’t know what kind of bulls**t this is, but I am appalled and have never felt more embarrassed. Thank you for absolutely nothing, having me waste my money and ruin my day.”
Six young men aged under 25 were in critical or serious conditions leaving the Hardcore Till I Die festival on Saturday while eight people left the Electric Gardens Festival in an ambulance. But by Sunday morning, all 14 were either in stable conditions or had been discharged from hospital.
Drugs were thought to be a factor in 10 of the 14 cases, NSW Health said.
The Sunday Telegraph reports a 19-year-old swallowed a cap filled with powerful party drug MDMA outside Hardcore Till I Die before entering the electronic music event.
The brazen behaviour comes despite five people, aged between 19 to 23, died from drug overdoses at music festivals since September.
It was the first major rave put on by Harder Styles United since December’s Knockout Games of Destiny at the same venue, where amateur AFL player Callum Brosnan, 19, died in a suspected overdose.
Each festival had extra high-level critical care medical teams and more harm reduction measures, such as roving drug educators and free electrolyte drinks.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian, whose government footed the bill for the extra protection, said she hoped and prayed people were starting to get the message to not take illicit drugs.
“I know some people are advocating one solution or another but there isn’t one solution,” she told reporters on Sunday.
“It’s a complex issue.
“We want young people to feel they can have a conversation, we want young people to get help when they need it.”
The premier and health department thanked staff and volunteers at the two festivals for ensuring attendees’ safety.
“The additional critical care staff contributed significantly to the positive outcomes seen overnight,” a NSW Health spokeswoman said.
Police charged seven people, including a 19-year-old South Australian woman, with drug supply at the HTID festival while one Electric Gardens attendee was also accused of that offence.
At least 75 people were caught in total for drug-related offences, with 68 issued criminal infringement notices and others given cautions, police say. Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant said the government needed to wait to see if the new on-the-spot fines for drug possession have any effect. He said there was no doubt the police force’s disruption of three large drug operations in the lead up to the festivals had an impact in the quantity of drugs in and around these festivals.
Extra safety measures will also be in place at hip-hop festival Rolling Loud at Sydney Showgrounds on Sunday.
ARRESTS AT RAINBOW SERPENT
More than 18 people, including a 17-year-old boy, were arrested for drug offences at Victoria’s Rainbow Serpent Festival.
The teenager was arrested for drug trafficking and will appear at a children’s court at a later date, while a 25-year-old French woman was also arrested on the same charge and will appear alongside three others in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Sniffer dogs were brought in to the notorious music festival near Ballarat, which saw one young man suffer a suspected drug overdose on Friday.
More revellers have been taken to hospital after deadly illicit drugs were taken in plain sight.
After a tragic start to the controversial festival — including the overdose and a horrific road death — brazen partygoers have continued to take and deal drugs across the grounds.
University student Lucy Groen, 19, was killed in a car crash while travelling to the event with a friend.
Three people were crushed by a truck on Thursday before the four-day bush doof festival kicked off at Lexton, near Ballarat.
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