Evidence has piled up for years of the harms of illicit drugs, from pill deaths at dance festivals to longitudinal studies establishing the risks of marijuana-induced psychosis, especially in adolescent brains, writes Miranda Devine.
It’s not something most young people are comfortable talking to their parents about – drugs and taking drugs. Leading psychologist Dianna Kenny shares her tips on how to start that conversation. LISTEN NOW
A 24-year-old who died from a suspected overdose at Strawberry Fields music festival in NSW has been remembered as “sweet and funny” man as police reveal 96 were arrested at the event for drug offences.
It is stomach-churning work but could pave the way for contentious pill testing at future music festivals. Researcher Jonathan Brett has already made several surprise findings while testing wastewater collected from portaloos.
NSW Health has ditched their hard-hitting campaign on MDMA and other party pills in favour of a “non-judgmental” one called StayOK after festivalgoers told researchers “fear campaigns” did not work.
It’s a drug lauded by users as inducing feelings of love and euphoria. But behind every MDMA pill is an ugly ‘shadow world’ of crime and exploitation that users unwittingly support.
Young Australians who take illicit drugs — or those defending their use — are seemingly oblivious to the damage the drugs cooks are doing to the environment. See the damage for yourself.
After headlines, funerals and coronial inquests fade, the devastated loved ones of those claimed by MDMA overdoses at music festivals are left trying to make sense of their loss. Four mothers bound by grief share their stories ahead of another long, hot summer of music festivals.
Peace, love and LSD. When music festivals began taking shape in the 1970s, Australia was a different place — hair was long, times were radical. Fast forward 50 years and the festival landscape couldn’t be more different. Nor could the drugs.
Sophie Horne thought about her mother as she lay on the concrete outside a music festival, convinced she was going to die. The 27-year-old had just collapsed and while friends resisted her pleas to “call a f***ing ambulance” she was suffering the effects of taking three party pills. This is her story.
It makes criminals rich, gets kids high, forces governments to spend billions on fighting crime, healthcare and drug prevention. It also kills. This is The Ripple Effect, a special multimedia report, exploring the facts and impacts of party drugs. Heading into another hot, long summer of music festivals, it is essential reading.
A senior Townsville doctor has described the tragic moment a family was forced to turn off their son’s life support after an MDMA overdose. What made it worse is that it could have been avoided.
MDMA-related presentations to Townsville Hospital have surged this year with three wired drug users taken to the emergency department each week, alarming figures show.
Half a world away from Australia’s party pill scene, Dutch park ranger Erik de Jonge is fighting his own battle – the environmental damage caused by toxic waste dumped by drug manufacturers in his forest. He took The Ripple Effect on a tour.
Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/rippleeffect/page/4