Needless deaths at Stereophonic festivals

Photo: Sky News

Sydney

One young woman, Sylvia Choi, 25, pharmacist, dead.

Another person taken to hospital, and now recovering.

A man charged for allegedly supplying Choi with the MDMA she took.

Adelaide

One young man, Stefan Woodward, 19, dead.

Two others, a young man and a young woman, being treated in the Royal Adelaide Hospital for drug overdoses. 

Melbourne

Teen taken to hospital in a critical condition from drug overdose, now in intensive care serious but stable.

Brisbane

Twenty young people hospitalised after overdosing.

WHAT is going on with our young people? In articles I read in the Sydney Morning Herald over the weekend, those interviewed were obviously sad about the deaths, but at the same time, were seemingly blase about the drug use. "Everyone does it" - apparently. What they did want were better options for on site drug testing so they could be more sure that what they're taking is safe. I had to read that over a few times, to be honest. 

The risks don't appear to make any difference to their decision making, even the deaths... Said one 25 year old in a SMH article:

If we really want to look at why people are putting themselves at risk, it's because they think the risk is worthwhile ... The feeling of happiness is unparalleled. 

So, they're at a music festival - which one assumes they wanted to attend - and they're with their friends, which is a good thing, but neither of those things is enough. They have to get high too. And risk dying. 

In the same article, from a rap by Melbourne musician, Remi:

The pupils of our generation are looking pretty gacked, huh ... We know we're f***ing stupid for doing it but whatever... 

Reading through various Facebook threads following articles about the deaths, there is blame flying in all directions. The police haven't cracked down enough, or they've cracked down too hard, which results in people taking all their drugs at once prior to being searched on entry. There aren't good enough tests available to check the drugs themselves to see that they're 'safe'. It's the dealer's fault for selling compromised drugs. That the first aid people didn't do enough... 

At the end of the day, there are two people to blame for the deaths of Sylvia Choi and Stefan Woodward. Those two people are Sylvia Choi and Stefan Woodward. They CHOSE to buy those drugs and they CHOSE to take them. Sylvia Choi was a pharmacist. You'd think, of all people, she'd have had a better idea than most just how dangerous that drug could be. 

The cold hard reality of all these recreational drugs is that no one knows how safe or unsafe they are, often until it's too late. There will be more deaths, as long as our young people feel they need to take them in order to have a really good time. There's no point in trying to lay blame on anyone other than the users. THEY are the ones making the decision to take that risk. I have no time for dealers, at all, and I think that the consequences for those caught dealing should be much more severe. But, at the end of the day, no one is forcing these kids to buy and take the drugs.