Mum of teen who died of drug overdose attends pill testing at Splendour
The mother whose teenage daughter died at a music festival has tearfully attended music festival Splendour in the Grass today.
The mother of a young woman who died at a music festival in January has broken down into tears at Splendour in the Grass while supporting the use of pill testing.
19-year-old Alex Ross King died at the FOMO festival this year after ingesting MDMA pills and on Saturday her mother, Jennie Ross-King, was campaigning in support of pill testing at the popular Byron Bay music festival.
Harriet Grahame, the coroner overseeing the inquest into six drug-related deaths at a number of NSW music festivals, accompanied Ms Ross-King at a pill testing demo.
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The pair sat among the crowd as David Caldicott — an emergency medicine specialist and the leader of Australia’s only sanctioned pill testing trials — demonstrated how drug checking works.
Following the demo, Ms Ross-King told journalists: “I guess the disappointing part is that this (pill testing) has been 20 years in the making.
“Alex was 19 … had this (pill testing) been implemented five years, 15 years ago, 20 years ago (Alex might still be alive).”
More than 35,000 people are expected for the second day of the three-day event, currently underway at North Byron Parklands in Wooyung.
NSW does not currently permit testing of illicit drugs at music festivals, meaning Dr Caldicott was only able to demonstrate using legal substances. He later admitted the machine wasn’t even turned on.
Kudos to @SITG for hosting the discussion, combining science & society on a topic so pertinent to the punters!
— David Caldicott (@ACTINOSProject) 20 July 2019
Show of hands on face-to-face vs. police associated #pilltesting?
As expected, unanimous support for the former- not a single hand for the latter.@pilltestingaus https://t.co/Yf8aYz2zoF
Brilliant informative session on #pilltesting and how to influence policy with expert â¦@ACTINOSProjectâ© in #sciencetent â¦@SITGâ© #sitg2019 â¦@inspiringausâ© #auspol pic.twitter.com/03TDwxlcbA
— jackie randles (@jackie_randles) 20 July 2019
Ms Grahame is overseeing the inquest into the deaths of Alex Ross-King, Nathan Tran, Diana Nguyen, Joseph Pham, Joshua Tam and Callum Brosnan, who died between December 2017 and January 2019.
All were under the age of 24 and died after consuming MDMA at NSW music festivals.
Edith Cowan University psychologist Stephen Bright told the inquiry into their deaths that pill testing offered a way to counsel young people about illicit drug use.
“The evidence we have is pill testing doesn’t give the green light or normalise drug use,” he said.
“With one in 10 people having already used ecstasy, drug use is already normalised.”
Various methods have been proposed, including spot-test kits at music festivals and establishing a permanent laboratory in an urban centre capable of offering anonymous drug checking to all.
The Splendour demo comes after NSW Police issued a formal warning days before the event.
“Police are reminding festival-goers about the consequences of bringing illegal drugs into this weekend’s Splendour in the Grass music festival, in an effort to keep the event fun but safe,” they said in a statement.
Police are reminding festival-goers about the consequences of bringing illegal drugs into this weekend’s Splendour in the Grass music festival, in an effort to keep the event fun but safe.https://t.co/gq8LkEJU5P
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) July 17, 2019
Police promised the operation would involve officers from Tweed/Byron Police District, Northern Region general duties officers, the NSW Police Dog Unit and other specialist command support.
The heightened police presence did not go unnoticed by festival-goers — and not all appreciated their presence.
“I’ve been to nine splendours … and this is the first that it’s felt more like a prison than a festival,” one Twitter user shared.
I’ve been to 9 splendours.. and this is the first that it’s felt more like a prison than a festival, thanks to @GladysB @nswpolice #jerks #letsuslive #SITG2019 pic.twitter.com/mA5QXL4PT1
— M (@mull_man) July 19, 2019
Police insist the security measures are in place for revellers’ own safety.
“We want Splendour to be an incident-free event. We will be there to uphold the law and ensure the safety of all festival-goers,” said Superintendent Roptell.
“Be warned that if you choose to break the law, disrupt other festival-goers, or create issues for the local community — you can expect to be arrested.”
President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, Dr Alex Wodak, fears sending police out in force will only perpetuate a climate of fear among young people.
“We’ve had numerous reports … consistent and plausible in my view, that when some kids see the dogs and see the police they will, unfortunately, swallow the evidence they have on them and will come to grief,” he told 7 News.
Earlier this month, the inquiry heard that Alex Ross-King, 19, who died from an MDMA overdose at the FOMO festival in January this year, took up to three pills in quick succession to avoid detection by police.
“She told her friends that because she was nervous about being caught by the police, she took the drugs at once like that,” the court heard.
The coronial inquest will resume in September with Ms Grahame to hand down her findings in October.
— with AAP