Monash study shows illicit drug users unaware of contents, and that can be deadly

As drug testing gets set to be rolled out at 10 music festivals across Victoria, an alarming study has exposed that drug takers don’t really know what they’re taking.

An alarming number of young Victorians taking illicit drugs at music festivals are unaware of what they really contain.

A new study led by Monash University has found that three in four people tested at electronic dance music events had additional unreported illicit or new synthetic drugs in their blood.

Those in the study had attended dance events in regional Victoria and Melbourne and sought onsite medical help after becoming unwell following drug use.

Monash University’s Jennifer Schumann was one of the co-authors of the study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review that was led by PhD student Rebekka Syrianen.

Professor Schumann said the study provides a new source of information relating to drug use and harms at music festivals.

The study reported 1603 people attending music festivals in Victoria had sought medical help over the 2022 and 2023 summers.

She said polydrug use was common with those requiring emergency medical care at festivals, particularly those experiencing severe drug toxicity.

The study looked at information from the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia (Victoria) project led by the Victorian Poisons Information Centre at Austin Health. This is in collaboration with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Victorian Department of Health.

The study was able to confirm what substances people had been exposed to at music festivals. Picture: iStock

“It has enabled us to capture drug intelligence from people presenting to medical services at music festivals that we otherwise might have missed,” Professor Schumann said.

“The importance of this project is that we’re not only capturing the clinical data and exposure information that the patients present with, but we’ve got the analytical confirmation of the substances they have actually been exposed to.

“There’s a strong discordance between what people report using and what they have actually been exposed to. People often don’t know what they’re taking because of the unpredictability of the illicit drug market in Australia.”

The study reported 24 young Victorians became seriously unwell including eight who needed hospital care.

The study reported 1603 people at an average age of 22 years had sought help from St John Ambulance Victoria service at the festivals over the 2022 and 2023 summers.

There were 24 who became seriously unwell including eight who needed hospital care. Sadly, one patient died in hospital from organ failure following MDMA use.

From blood tests the researchers identified the most frequently consumed drugs were MDMA/ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine. Other drugs detected, but not reported by the patients, included methamphetamine and new psychoactive substances such as synthetic stimulants and benzodiazepines.

“This may be indicative of drug adulteration or substitution, which we’re seeing quite a lot in the community now, especially with these novel psychoactive substances,” Professor Schumann said.

From blood tests the researchers identified the most frequently consumed drugs were MDMA/ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine. Image: iStock

Victoria is set to introduce controversial drug checking services at 10 music festivals this summer and a permanent service in Melbourne in mid-2025.

Professor Schumann said while drug checking services helped prevent harm by enabling people to make more informed decisions about their drug use before they use them, this study was about monitoring the outcomes of use and the drugs that are being used in the community.

She says the message is always that drugs can cause harm and if you want to stay safe, you shouldn’t use them.

“(But) we acknowledge that people are going to use drugs and we need to reduce the harm associated with their use,” she said.