Man, 24, dies after taking GHB, MDMA and cocaine at Strawberry Fields Music Festival
A man has died at the Strawberry Fields Music Festival at Tocumwal in the NSW Riverina region today. The 24-year-old, believed to be a Victorian, is thought to have consumed multiple substances including GHB, MDMA and cocaine.
The Ripple Effect
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Ripple Effect. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A 24-year-old man who died at a NSW music festival early this morning is believed to have taken “a cocktail of drugs” before he died, senior police say.
NSW Police Superintendent Jason Weinstein said the man, believed to be from Shepparton in Victoria, is thought to have overdosed on multiple drugs the Strawberry Fields electronic music festival in Tocumwal in the Riverina.
The man was taken to the festival’s medical tent 12.15am, before suffering a heart attack and dying about 2am. Medical staff were told he had consumed drugs including GHB, MDMA and cocaine.
“Some information that was given by the friends of the deceased was that he took a number of different drugs, so a cocktail of drugs,” Mr Weinstein said.
“It’s very sad and heartbreaking for the family — the message we constantly give to people attending festivals and the general community (is that) drugs are illegal for a reason — they are dangerous items and any drug can actually kill.
“The strong message for festival goers is ‘all it really takes is one pill to kill’ and really, if anyone is thinking of consuming an illegal substance, it’s really like playing Russian roulette, you’re really loading a bullet into a gun and firing that bullet.”
STRAWBERRY FIELDS
Paramedics at Strawberry Fields also took two other people to hospital, including one patient who needed high-level emergency care onsite by medical teams.
NSW Health said drugs were likely a factor in at least one of the two cases.
At least one patient remains in hospital in a stable condition.
By Sunday afternoon, police had arrested 48 people for drug offences at Strawberry Fields, with 61 charges being laid and eight drug criminal infringement notices being issued.
These included four men, aged 20 to 26, who were charged with supplying drugs.
All the men were granted bail were due to appear before court today.
The festival is due to finish later on Sunday.
THE POLICE INSPECTOR
When asked how pill testing would protect someone who took GHB, Mr Weinstein said “at the end of the day pill testing is a matter for government”.
“The Commissioner and the Premier have made their position I think fairly clear in regards to pill testing, so I don’t wish to make any further comments in respect to that,” he said.
Mr Weinstein said education also played a role in protecting people against drugs at music festivals.
“I think education is critical and it’s something that NSW Police certainly endorses and supports,” he said.
“At many festivals that I’ve been to between the Department of Health, the promoters and other agencies such as DanceWize and other providers — there’s a myriad of education (programs),” he said.
“Anything around harm minimisation — which NSW Police certainly supports — is what we’re all there for.
FESTIVAL ORGANISERS
The organisers of Strawberry Fields said in a statement they could not control people’s decisions despite implementing “harm minimisation” strategies.
“We have implemented every single harm minimisation strategy that is legally available to us, run in-depth education campaigns on the dangers of drug use, and worked closely with all stakeholders to ensure we are in the best possible position to prevent and manage an incident like this,” the statement read.
“However, we cannot control the choices of individual patrons. We are begging people to stop and think about the ramifications of their choices on their family and friends and to stay safe.”
Just two days ago, Strawberry Fields director Tara Benney told News Corp’s The Ripple Effect promoters had spent millions of dollars installing emergency hospitals, private ambulance services, increased security and highly trained crowd carers to look after their hundreds of thousands of festival-goers at events.
Ms Benney, who has been staging her alternative event in Tocumwal on the banks of the Murray River for 11 years, said they have proactively worked with local council, residents, police, ambulance and Rural Fire Services in the area to “care for every individual coming to our event.”
“A lot of the crowd care people come to these shows to make a fundamental difference; maybe they had friends they weren’t able to help and they believe if they do this, they could help save lives,” she said.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT
Originally published as Man, 24, dies after taking GHB, MDMA and cocaine at Strawberry Fields Music Festival
$86m MDMA haul found as cops bust international ring
Three men have faced court following one of the biggest MDMA busts in Australian history with more than one tonne of the party drug seized. It is estimated the shipment would have made more than three million pills.
Wedding DJ charged with having 1000 pills in undies
Almost 2000 MDMA capsules have allegedly been found on party goers at a music festival in Sydney’s west. One man alone, a teen wedding DJ, is charged with carrying 1005 in his underwear and pants.