Twenty people arrested for drug possession at Subsonic music festival

THE number of different drugs at Subsonic music festival has shocked police. LSD, ketamine, ecstacy and more.

Revellers at last year’s Subsonic music festival.

TWENTY people have been charged with drug offences after a police operation at the Subsonic Music Festival in the Hunter Valley.

Amphetamines, LSD, ketamine, ecstasy and cannabis were found on 17 people on the first day of the Monkerai festival on Friday, police say.

A further three people were charged with supplying a prohibited drug, including a 30-year-old who was allegedly found with LSD and charged with supplying an indictable quantity of a drug.

Port Stephens Commander Superintendent Chris Craner said police were “shocked” at the number of people risking their health by taking drugs.

“Consuming a prohibited drug is extremely dangerous — you don’t know what is in the drug, how and where it has been manufactured, or what effects it can have on your body,” he said in a statement.

“The illegal activities at these events will put the future of any such event in this area in serious jeopardy.”

Drug and health experts have been calling for governments to allow pill testing at major music festivals so that music fans can make informed decisions about what they plan on taking.

But NSW Premier Mike Baird earlier this year equated tests with supporting illegal drug use and dismissed a privately-funded planned trial as “ridiculous”.

Originally published as Twenty people arrested for drug possession at Subsonic music festival