BY KENJI SATO
Nearly 200 partygoers spent New Year’s Day under arrest on drugs charges, prompting NSW Premier Mike Baird to call for stricter security at NSW musical festivals.
The arrests followed an operation by the Redfern drug-dog squad at the Field Day 2016 music festival in Sydney’s CBD.
Following the arrests, Mr Baird said that the organisers of music festivals should be held responsible for drug offences, warning that music festivals could be shut down if they do not tighten their screening procedures at entry points.
“If new rules and procedures place additional burdens and costs on organisers, so be it – and we will also examine denying permits to organisers who have not done the right thing in the past,” Mr Baird told media last Sunday.
“Enough is enough. This simply has to stop,” he said.
But the Premier’s comments have come under fire by Greens NSW MP Mehreen Faruqi, who told City Hub that holding festival organisers responsible would be a “completely futile exercise”, and that it was the Premier who should take responsibility.
“The Premier and the government must take responsibility for the consequences of their outdated policies on drugs, and change direction,” Dr Faruqi told City Hub.
“Drug dogs and over-policing are tools of the failed law-and-order approach to drug use. On a surface level, they may seem like tough but necessary tactics to stop people from taking dangerous substances, but they just don’t work,” she said.
She argued the ‘war on drugs’ approach was causing more than good, and that the government should move to evidence-based policy focused on health and harm reduction.
“Government should work in partnership with music festival organisers and health professionals to introduce pill-testing, so that unsafe pills can be detected and discarded. Pill testing is a proven measure that reduces risk of harm and provides an opportunity for information and education,” she said.
Following the arrests at the Field Day festival, the Redfern Region Enforcement Squad Commander, Chief Inspector Stuart Bell, said that the number of drug arrests had fallen from a record-high of 214 at last year’s Field Day festival.
“While most revellers were well-behaved, 184 drug related arrests shows that there are still some who think they can get away with possessing and supplying drugs,” Chief Inspector Bell said.
“We will continue to target drugs, alcohol-related crime, and anti-social behaviour, particularly at music festivals.”
“We make no apologies for finding people who supply and possess drugs, and putting them before the courts.”
Ambulance paramedics gave medical treatment to 212 people at the Field Day festival, and five were taken to hospital for further treatment.
Eight people were charged with drug supply, including a 26-year-old-woman who was allegedly found in the possession of 100 ecstasy tablets and a 19-year-old man who was allegedly found with 81 ecstasy tablets. One 23-year-old woman was in a critical condition after a suspected MDMA overdose, but was treated and released from St Vincent’s hospital on Sunday morning.
