The Coroner has inquired into the drug deaths at Music Festivals in NSW in detail and the Coroners Report is due by November 2019 which should hopefully guide the drug policies of NSW State Government.
In the mean time let us look at the Broad Picture and evaluate the problem without any bias.
Drugs and Teenagers:
Whether we like it or not teenagers will do exactly what we parents tell them not to do. This is something in common with all generations.
After Woodstock my father laid bare his rules at home, No Rock Music at Home, No one was to sing Beatles songs and I being the only boy at home was told in no uncertain terms I was not allowed to grow my hair long or wear bell bottom pants. He would break my legs if I did
Teenagers want to grow up into adulthood fast. They cannot wait to do everything the adults do, party, drink, smoke and have sex. But then none of these are possible within the confines of a parents home or until you leave home and start living on your own. For me personally five years of mandatory hostel living at University opened the doors and I could smoke drink wear bell bottoms and sing Beatles songs to my hearts content. The minute I had the freedom, the thrill of disobeying parents was gone and smoking and drinking we did just for fun at times.
Music festivals in Australia give teenagers still living at home an opportunity to be naughty and to break the rules and try out party drugs and alcohol all for the fun of it. Filling water bottles with Vodka and getting it into a music festival in itself is a thrill of sorts and pills a much bigger thrill.
So yes majority of teenagers who come to Music festivals undoubtedly come to try out drugs and alcohol and let their hair down. The slightly older ones and the ones who have moved out of home who attend come for the music and a day out with friends but not as much for drugs as they can do it any time any where as no one is there to question them or stop them.
Is it Morally wrong to try drugs?
Taking drugs has nothing to do with Morality or religion what so ever. Unfortunately we have politicians who bring Religion and Religious beliefs into Governance which is wrong. No God made the religion. All Religions are Man Made. Period. There is no God out there listing the do's and dont's for followers. I is the wicked God men who control the Church who do that. After what has been exposed over the years about our Church Bishops and Cardinals and Pastors these Church rules are of no consequence as tehy d not come from God.
Right now the State Premier is adamant about her tough stance on Drugs. Yet the same lady will do an about turn on her Policies on Drugs if a young member of her family dies of drug overdose at a music festival.
Politicians have to stop playing God and do what is right by the society that elected them to rule and as Gandhi said "In Matters of Conscience the Law of Majority has No Place"
The Big Picture:
It is unfortunate that 5 youngsters died of Drug overdose at Music Festivals in New South Wales and understandably parents are devastated and want it to stop. How? no one has a clue to date, yet every one, meaning the do gooders are interested is trying to push their personal agendas like Pill testing at Festivals.
"To say there were no deaths at some festival because they had pill testing is to me a BIG lie".
There have been hundreds of Music festivals over the decades where there was no pill testing facility yet no one died. With pill testing if some pills are tested and approved it is likely kids will overdose on these pills as they have been tested and approved as safe.
Also Law enforcers are saying it nice and loud that "drugs are illegal" and every one entering the music festival is checked to ensure drugs don't make it into the festivals. If some kids still manage to take the drugs into the festival successfully they know what they have done is illegal.
Now a Kid has to be stupid to take the pills for testing inside the festival that is swarming with a few hundred cops sniffer dogs and paramedics and other private security personnel besides police officers in mufty.
20,000 kids and even if 200 tablets are tested, this is not going to save lives ?
Yes 5 Kids died in one year at Music festivals. Yet 3500 people died of drug overdose Nationwide and no one wants to talk about this fact.. That works out to ten deaths a day.
Lets us estimate the costs incurred in providing ambulances to transport these people to hospitals and how many medical professionals, medical tests and medical procedures and medications will be required for each drug related death. Lets say approximately Aud $10K per individual. which amounts to Aud 3.5 Million. Remember this is only accounting for the ones who died of overdose. The number of Drug related admissions in Hospitals could be 100 times more say 35,000 admissions per annum nationally and hospitals will incur similar costs of say Aud $10K x 35000
costing the tax man Approximately Aud $350 million a year. ( all these are mere guestimates and could be much worse in reality). So Much of Tax payers funds are wasted yet we do not have a working solution. Do we ?
Australia is the Soft Target for Drug Supply by International Syndicates
Even though it is a meagre population of 25 million in a vast continent, Australia is still a soft target as drugs are illegal in Australia and supply does not meet the demand and big money is to be made. Now it is common knowledge that MDMA is being manufactured in Myanmar and Thailand only to be sold to the Australian Market. I have read that these drugs are made in the Junggles of Thailand and Myanmar and hidden in caves too..
Take a look at the Wine Industry in Australia. Despite the ill effects of alcohol and alcohol related problems and deaths, alcohol is available ar reasonable price nationally. Any one can walk into a bottle shop and buiy any amount of grog they want. What people drink and how much they drink is upto them as long as it does not lead to alcohol fuelled violence or road accidents due to intoxication. Liver cirrhosis from alcohol consumption is only a result of a life time of alcoholism. So we have never heard of illegal production of alcohol or illegal imports of alcohol.
Let us now compare this with Cigarettes. I used to smoke cigarettes when I was younger just a couple a day. A packet of Benson and Hedges 20 pack used to cost $2.50 a Pack. Today the very same packet costs nearly $40. That is a huge hike and a lot of Tax revenue for the Government and as lucrative as the Parking fines for the councils and Sate Govt coffers. To me this is a rip off in the national interest. Not only that Cigarettes are so expensive that people are smuggling cigarettes from other countries into Australia. Not only that petrol stations and small grocery shops often get held up by petty criminals who take all the cigarettes they can lay their hands on. We have to thank the Politicians for creating this demand leading to more crime. There is no such thing as Cigarette related crimes in India, Indonesia or Thailand. We know why and the answer is staring us in the face. Australia is an over regulated country fleecing the population. Australians can never save money as every one lives on credit cards and in debt all their working lives. It is definitely not a land of milk and honey. Australia is a large island continent with miles and liles of ocean surrounding the country and you would assume fish would be cheap food. You just have to walk into a fish shop and you will find that any kind of fish costs at least $30 a kilo. Even cheap imported basa fillets from China that used to cost $6 a kilo now costs $15 a kilo.
What the Australian Govt should look at is get off the Moral perch and put aside religious sentiments and legalise use of party drugs so users cannot be sniffed by dogs or strip searched by rogue cops for cheap thrills be it at home or in public or music festivals. Supplying of drugs should be still illegal with much heavier fines that are mandatory and not left to the whims and fancies of magistrates and judges, making police work worthwhile. Put them all away for a minimum of ten years behind bars. This has to act as a deterrent to those who wish toi make big bucks manufacturing spurious drugs.
Now as for Pill testing, forget the Music festivals. Have Pill testing centres in every suburb. If drug consumption is not illegal then I bet every one wants the drug tested so that have a good time yet can rest assured they do not end up in a coffin.
Lastly if the Govt was to authorise a handful of Pharma to manufacture these party drugs and sold at reasonable prices to the general public through lets say chemists, say ten dollars a pill and include all necessary precaution to stay safe how wonderful will this be. Overnight this will kill the market for illegally produced garbage made by criminals in their back yards and hide outs. This will also eliminate drug importation by criminal syndicates as there will be no demand as party drugs are easily available at chemists.
Not only that even if a small percentage of drug users overdose, the doctors working at emergencies do not have to do extensive testing to find out what drugs have been ingested and the same authorised pharma making the party drugs can have antidotes for overdose victims.
Now whether our elected Politicians will have the guts and foresight to bring about such radical changes is the big question.
Most politicians are interested in winning the next election and the election after. How many elected politicians are good souls and true leaders like Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke who were all visionaries; I know as I have lived through their reign.
In the mean time let us look at the Broad Picture and evaluate the problem without any bias.
Drugs and Teenagers:
Whether we like it or not teenagers will do exactly what we parents tell them not to do. This is something in common with all generations.
After Woodstock my father laid bare his rules at home, No Rock Music at Home, No one was to sing Beatles songs and I being the only boy at home was told in no uncertain terms I was not allowed to grow my hair long or wear bell bottom pants. He would break my legs if I did
Teenagers want to grow up into adulthood fast. They cannot wait to do everything the adults do, party, drink, smoke and have sex. But then none of these are possible within the confines of a parents home or until you leave home and start living on your own. For me personally five years of mandatory hostel living at University opened the doors and I could smoke drink wear bell bottoms and sing Beatles songs to my hearts content. The minute I had the freedom, the thrill of disobeying parents was gone and smoking and drinking we did just for fun at times.
Music festivals in Australia give teenagers still living at home an opportunity to be naughty and to break the rules and try out party drugs and alcohol all for the fun of it. Filling water bottles with Vodka and getting it into a music festival in itself is a thrill of sorts and pills a much bigger thrill.
So yes majority of teenagers who come to Music festivals undoubtedly come to try out drugs and alcohol and let their hair down. The slightly older ones and the ones who have moved out of home who attend come for the music and a day out with friends but not as much for drugs as they can do it any time any where as no one is there to question them or stop them.
Is it Morally wrong to try drugs?
Taking drugs has nothing to do with Morality or religion what so ever. Unfortunately we have politicians who bring Religion and Religious beliefs into Governance which is wrong. No God made the religion. All Religions are Man Made. Period. There is no God out there listing the do's and dont's for followers. I is the wicked God men who control the Church who do that. After what has been exposed over the years about our Church Bishops and Cardinals and Pastors these Church rules are of no consequence as tehy d not come from God.
Right now the State Premier is adamant about her tough stance on Drugs. Yet the same lady will do an about turn on her Policies on Drugs if a young member of her family dies of drug overdose at a music festival.
Politicians have to stop playing God and do what is right by the society that elected them to rule and as Gandhi said "In Matters of Conscience the Law of Majority has No Place"
The Big Picture:
It is unfortunate that 5 youngsters died of Drug overdose at Music Festivals in New South Wales and understandably parents are devastated and want it to stop. How? no one has a clue to date, yet every one, meaning the do gooders are interested is trying to push their personal agendas like Pill testing at Festivals.
"To say there were no deaths at some festival because they had pill testing is to me a BIG lie".
There have been hundreds of Music festivals over the decades where there was no pill testing facility yet no one died. With pill testing if some pills are tested and approved it is likely kids will overdose on these pills as they have been tested and approved as safe.
Also Law enforcers are saying it nice and loud that "drugs are illegal" and every one entering the music festival is checked to ensure drugs don't make it into the festivals. If some kids still manage to take the drugs into the festival successfully they know what they have done is illegal.
Now a Kid has to be stupid to take the pills for testing inside the festival that is swarming with a few hundred cops sniffer dogs and paramedics and other private security personnel besides police officers in mufty.
20,000 kids and even if 200 tablets are tested, this is not going to save lives ?
Yes 5 Kids died in one year at Music festivals. Yet 3500 people died of drug overdose Nationwide and no one wants to talk about this fact.. That works out to ten deaths a day.
Lets us estimate the costs incurred in providing ambulances to transport these people to hospitals and how many medical professionals, medical tests and medical procedures and medications will be required for each drug related death. Lets say approximately Aud $10K per individual. which amounts to Aud 3.5 Million. Remember this is only accounting for the ones who died of overdose. The number of Drug related admissions in Hospitals could be 100 times more say 35,000 admissions per annum nationally and hospitals will incur similar costs of say Aud $10K x 35000
costing the tax man Approximately Aud $350 million a year. ( all these are mere guestimates and could be much worse in reality). So Much of Tax payers funds are wasted yet we do not have a working solution. Do we ?
Australia is the Soft Target for Drug Supply by International Syndicates
Even though it is a meagre population of 25 million in a vast continent, Australia is still a soft target as drugs are illegal in Australia and supply does not meet the demand and big money is to be made. Now it is common knowledge that MDMA is being manufactured in Myanmar and Thailand only to be sold to the Australian Market. I have read that these drugs are made in the Junggles of Thailand and Myanmar and hidden in caves too..
Take a look at the Wine Industry in Australia. Despite the ill effects of alcohol and alcohol related problems and deaths, alcohol is available ar reasonable price nationally. Any one can walk into a bottle shop and buiy any amount of grog they want. What people drink and how much they drink is upto them as long as it does not lead to alcohol fuelled violence or road accidents due to intoxication. Liver cirrhosis from alcohol consumption is only a result of a life time of alcoholism. So we have never heard of illegal production of alcohol or illegal imports of alcohol.
Let us now compare this with Cigarettes. I used to smoke cigarettes when I was younger just a couple a day. A packet of Benson and Hedges 20 pack used to cost $2.50 a Pack. Today the very same packet costs nearly $40. That is a huge hike and a lot of Tax revenue for the Government and as lucrative as the Parking fines for the councils and Sate Govt coffers. To me this is a rip off in the national interest. Not only that Cigarettes are so expensive that people are smuggling cigarettes from other countries into Australia. Not only that petrol stations and small grocery shops often get held up by petty criminals who take all the cigarettes they can lay their hands on. We have to thank the Politicians for creating this demand leading to more crime. There is no such thing as Cigarette related crimes in India, Indonesia or Thailand. We know why and the answer is staring us in the face. Australia is an over regulated country fleecing the population. Australians can never save money as every one lives on credit cards and in debt all their working lives. It is definitely not a land of milk and honey. Australia is a large island continent with miles and liles of ocean surrounding the country and you would assume fish would be cheap food. You just have to walk into a fish shop and you will find that any kind of fish costs at least $30 a kilo. Even cheap imported basa fillets from China that used to cost $6 a kilo now costs $15 a kilo.
What the Australian Govt should look at is get off the Moral perch and put aside religious sentiments and legalise use of party drugs so users cannot be sniffed by dogs or strip searched by rogue cops for cheap thrills be it at home or in public or music festivals. Supplying of drugs should be still illegal with much heavier fines that are mandatory and not left to the whims and fancies of magistrates and judges, making police work worthwhile. Put them all away for a minimum of ten years behind bars. This has to act as a deterrent to those who wish toi make big bucks manufacturing spurious drugs.
Now as for Pill testing, forget the Music festivals. Have Pill testing centres in every suburb. If drug consumption is not illegal then I bet every one wants the drug tested so that have a good time yet can rest assured they do not end up in a coffin.
Lastly if the Govt was to authorise a handful of Pharma to manufacture these party drugs and sold at reasonable prices to the general public through lets say chemists, say ten dollars a pill and include all necessary precaution to stay safe how wonderful will this be. Overnight this will kill the market for illegally produced garbage made by criminals in their back yards and hide outs. This will also eliminate drug importation by criminal syndicates as there will be no demand as party drugs are easily available at chemists.
Not only that even if a small percentage of drug users overdose, the doctors working at emergencies do not have to do extensive testing to find out what drugs have been ingested and the same authorised pharma making the party drugs can have antidotes for overdose victims.
Now whether our elected Politicians will have the guts and foresight to bring about such radical changes is the big question.
Most politicians are interested in winning the next election and the election after. How many elected politicians are good souls and true leaders like Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke who were all visionaries; I know as I have lived through their reign.
