The Future of Australia is Drugs

Strolling past the Myer Music Bowl at Future Music Festival, the energized dance music seemed only a soundtrack to the more interesting scene at play. The festival, held March 11 in Melbourne, was the scene to a mass of drug busts in one of the Victorian Police force’s most impressive display of weight in the war against drugs.

In the aftermath of the tragic death of young Sydney partygoer Annabel Catt after last month’s Good Vibrations music festival, the Victorian Police were under pressure to not have a repeat in their capital city.

Australia’s party scene has recently been littered with the use of uppers such as ecstasy, speed, amphetamines and cocaine. The prevalence of drugs in nightclubs has recently been highlighted by the recent raids in some of Melbourne’s hottest and most frequented clubs.

Future Musical Festival is the last of several similar festivals touring nationally over the summer months. Summerdayze, Big Day Out and Good Vibrations were heavily attended across Australia, with varying incidences of drug use.

In the last festival of the party season, many partygoers looked to yesterday’s event as a chance for a day of drug-induced revelling. Festivals like Future are often the stage for not only the habitual users but also for first-time takers to experiment with the "party drugs". Paramedics are routinely on hand, and report spending much of their day attending to the effects of the drugs.

Yet for Australian youths hoping to score easily and without incident, disappointment was in store.

The dangerous results of recent festivals, coupled with the increased public awareness of drug use at these events, led to a heavy police presence.

Police officers plagued the outdoor festival, patrolling the grounds surrounding the festival in a show of force in both uniform and plain clothes.

Undercover busts dotted the usually peaceful gardens, which is often the scene of leisurely walks and picnics. Police members dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts congregated in small clusters, writing up offenders who had been caught after soliciting approaches or with the aid of sniffer dogs.

The raid was a stand against the prevalence and increased social acceptance of these drugs amongst Australia’s youth, but failed to stamp out the use of the drugs at the festival.

Inside the gates, and in secluded areas surrounding, the effects of the drugs were apparent. Youths were sprawled out under trees, suffering obvious symptoms of various drug cocktails.

Though many partygoers left the festival with a court summons and/or fine in hand, many more carried evidence that not all users had been deterred or detected.

Into the night, thousands of youths spilled out of the gardens - with telltale water bottles in hand.