Schoolies 2019: Gold Coast Police cracking down on drugs in Surfers Paradise
A schoolie has had a terrifying scrape with danger, climbing over a balcony after taking party drugs on the Gold Coast.
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A SCHOOLIE has had a terrifying scrape with danger, climbing over a balcony after taking party drugs on the Gold Coast.
Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Justin Payne, with the Gold Coast Schoolies Response, said the schoolie in his late teens was found skylarking on a high-rise balcony over the weekend.
“We were called to an incident where one of the patients we were treating, as a result of being on MDMA (ecstasy), did try and climb from a balcony down one floor, from the fifth floor to the fourth,” he said.
“Obviously, one small accident in that scenario could have led to tragic consequences for himself, his family and all of his friends.”
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Paramedics were called to “a male in his late teens attempting to climb a balcony” at a location on Elkhorn Ave, Surfers Paradise about 1am today, an ambulance spokeswoman said.
“The patient didn’t suffer any injuries and was taken to Robina (Hospital) as a precaution,” she said.
“He had reportedly taken multiple MDMA tablets.”
Last year at Schoolies, Sydney student Hamish Bidgood, 18, tragically fell to his death from the balcony of a room at Surf Regency Holiday Apartments.
Last Monday, New Zealand man Liam Kearns, 22, sadly fell to his death from the 15th floor of the Breakers North building.
Crews responded to 55 Schoolie-related incidents overnight, involving 22 boys and 33 girls, with paramedics hospitalising six people.
Mr Payne said there was one particular drug which was popping up often.
“We are also seeing a lot of MDMA use coming through our tent, which is a concern,” he said.
“A lot of the patients that we treated had taken multiple tablets and there can be long-lasting, ongoing effects from taking illicit substances.”
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Meanwhile non-Schoolies were getting up to more trouble than their younger counterparts overnight, with police out in big numbers in the Surfers Paradise party precinct.
Officers arrested a total of 10 non-Schoolies on 11 charges, largely related to public nuisance.
A total of five male school-leavers were arrested for five offences, mainly linked to drugs.
Two Schoolies were also slapped with liquor infringement notices.
On the same night in 2018, nine schoolies were arrested.
Police warned Schoolies again that the “possession and consumption of dangerous drugs is illegal and could have fatal consequences”.
On Saturday night, police also arrested more non-Schoolies, busting 11 people in the party precinct compared to seven Schoolies.
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