Suspected festival overdoses heighten focus on NSW drug policies

The NSW government will come under fresh scrutiny over its drug policies following the possible overdose deaths of two young men who attended a music festival in Sydney on the long weekend, which marked the start of the summer festival season.

The men, aged 26 and 21, died after going to the Knockout music festival at Sydney Olympic Park. Paramedics were called to Olympic Boulevard, outside the venue, to treat the 26-year-old just before 1am on Sunday. He was taken to Concord Hospital, where he died.

The 21-year-old man was treated by paramedics at a hotel on George Street in the city before they took him to St Vincent’s Hospital. Police were called to the hospital at 1am after he died.

NSW Health confirmed both men had attended Knockout, but did not provide further information about the circumstances of their deaths. Police said investigators would examine all contributing factors. Nine other people were taken to hospital from the medical facility at Knockout festival.

Detective superintendent Simon Glasser said drugs could have horrible consequences and “when you mix that with the heat of [Saturday], that’s an added risk factor”.

He said he could not comment on pill testing as it was a government policy matter, but “our police see the adverse effects of drug use every day”.

The ACT is piloting a pill testing regime while Queensland relaxed laws relating to possession of small amounts of illicit drugs earlier this year. Before the election, NSW Labor promised to hold a summit in its first term to examine drug policy, but is yet to set a date.

Previous inquiries have recommended pill testing at music festivals, but Premier Chris Minns slapped down Housing Minister Rose Jackson when she expressed her support for it in April.

Minns dismissed advocates’ calls for faster action as recently as last month. “I know they want me to change our policy today, but I’m not going to do that,” he said.

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On Sunday, Youth Justice Minister Jihad Dib reiterated the government’s promise to hold a drug summit, though would not guarantee all its recommendations would be adopted. He pleaded with people to remember the potential dangers of pills.

More than 80,000 music fans attended Knockout, the Listen Out festival at Centennial Park and the Heaps Gay street party in Marrickville on Saturday, marking the start of the summer festival season. Police charged more than 70 people with drug offences across Knockout and Listen Out.

The charges from Knockout included a 26-year-old man who allegedly attempted to evade police. During a subsequent search, officers seized 491 MDMA pills, four grams of cocaine and cash, police said. The man was charged with drug offences and appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday.

At Knockout festival, 27 people were charged with drug possession and two men and two women were charged with drug supply. A number of those detections came from the use of sniffer dogs.

At the Listen Out festival, police caught 85 people with drugs. Five men and three women were charged with supplying drugs. Two men were caught with 63 MDMA capsules and cocaine.

Superintendent Glasser declined to comment on whether the sight of sniffer dogs could prompt festival attendees to consume all their drugs on the spot. “The use of drug dogs at musical festivals is highly effective and forms part of our criminal investigation strategy and also our harm reduction strategy,” he said.

That is despite the Herald recently revealing NSW Police drug dogs incorrectly detect illicit substances on patrons about 75 per cent of the time.

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In 2017, Nathan Tran died of MDMA toxicity after attending the Knockout Circuz dance party at Sydney Olympic Park. A 2019 coroner’s report into the drug-related deaths of six festival-goers between December 2017 and January 2019 also recommended scrapping sniffer dogs at festivals.

Organisers of the Knockout and Listen Out festivals were contacted for comment. Australian Festival Association managing director Mitch Wilson said Knockout was not an AFA member but extended their condolences to the friends and family of both young men who died.

Last month Wilson told the Herald it was disappointing the drug summit had not been held already so that pill testing services, if supported, could have been made available this season.

“We know the warm weather being predicted is cause for concern that the harms from illicit drug use could be higher this summer,” Wilson said.

A previous version of this article said the 21-year-old man had attended the Listen Out music festival. In fact, he died after going to the Knockout festival at Sydney Olympic Park.