garbagegutz
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In 2015 Stereosonic suffered two drug-related deaths, the first in their nine year history. One month later, a 23-year-old woman overdosed at Sydney festival Field Day, before later recovering in hospital.
In the weeks that followed – while many argued it was time for Australia to bring in pill-testing – NSW Premier Mike Baird pledged to put in place new rules that could see major music festivals banned because of drug use. He wants government ministers to review how permits are granted for festivals and make it harder for them to go ahead, as well as making promoters accountable for overdoses at their events. In Baird’s worldview, “Individuals need to take responsibility for their actions, but so do the organisers of these festivals”.
But how much power do promoters really have to stop punters taking drugs? To find out, we asked the man whose 25-year resume includes a part in running Australia’s first ever dance festival (headed by Daft Punk, no less), the formation of techno flagship Hardware and one major national festival in the shape of Stereosonic. Richie McNeill – who founded Stereo in 2007 and worked on the festival until Totem Onelove’s sale to SFX in 2013 – has seen it all. As promoters of all shades will tell you, he’s also one of the most outspoken figures in the industry.
From why we need amnesty bins to the problem with sniffer dogs and the importance of having police at events, McNeill has strong ideas about what needs to change to make Australia a safer place to party. His beliefs might be controversial, but they’re also a rare insider’s perspective on the murky relationship between drugs and festivals – and with the drug debate heating up in 2016, it’s a viewpoint Australia needs to hear.
READ MORE
These summer party tips could save your life
(Photo: Life Festival)
[h=2]What promoters can and can’t do to stop drugs getting in[/h]McNeill wants to dispel the stigma that dance promoters don’t care about drug use at their events. “All of the major promoters go over and above the call of duty to provide a safe environment, and just because people are making bad choices as individuals we are seen as the bad guys,” he says.
“We don’t fucking promote drugs. We don’t have the power to search people thoroughly, we can’t carry weapons, we can’t lock people up. We can knock people back at the gate, which we do, but at the end of the day – even with police dogs there and the support of police – it’s really difficult. So for the papers and NSW Premier to attack [Field Day promoters] Fuzzy and say that they aren’t doing a good enough job is insulting. I think that’s just the typical response from the media and politicians who don’t understand what’s happening.
We can’t search people. We can pat them down, but we can’t say “open your wallet mate” and then hold them if we find something illegal. We can make them pull stuff out, but we can’t do a proper search. We can’t arrest people – you try to arrest some big six foot dude who is juiced up on steroids and alcohol, he’ll tell you to fuck off and smash two of your guards while he’s doing it. The steroid issue and “gym hulk” mentality in Australia is big too.
“We don’t have the power so there’s not much more we can do that we aren’t already doing. We can provide a safe place and work with the police. I think most promoters are already doing everything they can and so are the police.”
(Photo: Meredith Music Festival)
[h=6][/h][h=2]Why you can’t bring water in[/h]Those complaints about events not providing free water? Don’t believe them, says McNeill. “We have been giving away free water for 20 years. We used to allow people to bring water into festivals, but then GHB happened and people started using syringes to punch stuff into their bottles because we couldn’t test the water. So we had to ban people from bringing their own water in – but what we did is allow punters to bring in an empty bottle and fill it up inside. I don’t know any festival that doesn’t provide free water. They always have. The media suggesting this as a solution of late just shows you the people commenting have no clue what is happening, if they did they would know we already do.
We have been providing free water, we provide medical assistance, we search people on the way in, we are using metal detectors. We’re not amateurs, we’ve been doing this shit for years. Australia is known internationally for having some of the best-run festivals.”
(Photo: DanceSafe)
[h=6][/h][h=2]Do promoters want pill testing?[/h]You bet. “If it saves lives it should be allowed. It also makes the government aware of what is being sold, so that they can give out warnings [when pills are bad]. I go to events in Amsterdam and there are signs up at some venues telling you what is on the market and what to stay away from. That can save people’s lives. I think it’s ridiculous that stuff can’t get tested here – pill testing isn’t promoting drugs, it’s making them safer and the majority of the time, it is deterring people from taking drugs..
In Europe, people go off on their lunchbreak during the week to get their pills tested – they drop them off, come back half an hour later and get their results. So they might buy one, test it and if it’s crap, they aren’t going to buy 10 for them and their mates. They might not get any for the weekend and just go grab a drink instead. That could save their life.”
[h=2]Sniffer dogs and the argument for amnesty bins[/h]“Sniffer dogs are a double-edged sword,” says McNeill. “I’m all for them because they’ve helped us keep a lot of drugs out of the events. They’ve assisted the police in finding large amounts of pills, charging people and then making their way back to the manufacturers, so there is a positive.”
“But with the positive comes a negative, as kids freak out and they drop stuff before they come or they pre-load. Or they get there and if they see there’s lots of dogs so they’ll drop everything that they’ve got before they go in, and that puts them under an incredible amount of risk. It’s one of those things where I’m split right down the middle. I believe in them for helping to keep drugs out, but there is also the flipside that it’s encouraging and making punters take their stuff in larger amounts before they get detected.”
What he wants to see happen? “I think festivals should have amnesty bins. But the police say they can’t, because if people put stuff in the bins, they have to arrest them for possession. That’s just the way the law is written. The fact we don’t implement such a simple solution is mind boggling.
“Everywhere else there is amnesty bins so if [punters] see the dogs and they freak out they can just put it in the bin, walk away and no problem. It’s really fucking simple, they do it at Glastonbury and they do it at most major festivals. If there’s dogs out the front, you’ve got drugs on you and you don’t want to get arrested, you put them in the amnesty bin and go off and have a great day.”
[h=2]Why festivals need police[/h]Punters in 2016 might be put off by the amount of police at events but in decades’ past, promoters had to fight to get them there at all. Nowadays, promoters themselves foot the bill for police presence to make parties safer.
“There was a bunch of venues like Melbourne Park and Etihad Stadium and a bunch of promoters like [Michael] Gudinski, Michael Coppell Presents, Future [Entertainment] and Hardware who all lobbied to the police so they could come back and police our events,” McNeill explains. “For years there they weren’t coming because they didn’t have the resources. In that period when the government failed to fund them enough and it started getting out of hand.
“The police were at the cricket because a lot of politicians like the cricket, they were at the football because a lot of politicians like football, and they were at the horse races because a lot of politicians like horse races. Then at Big Day Out and certain other sporting events there were hardly any police because they didn’t have the resources.
“For a good four or five years in Melbourne there was no user paid police. There is now, thank god, but there wasn’t in Perth until a couple of years ago. We had big police operations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide for Stereosonic, but not in Perth because Perth didn’t have a user paid system.”
And as for what happens when festivals don’t have police? “It was insane, we had bikies coming to the festival threatening to kill us and we had to hire big, big, big security to keep them out. It was like the wild west over there. Now it’s gotten a lot safer.”
[h=6]McNeill at EMC 2013 (Photo: ITM)[/h][h=2]How to make festivals safer[/h]McNeill wants to see the dance industry band together in a national forum to discuss how promoters can run the safest events possible – it’s something that Australia has done before, and it works. Believe it or not, Melbourne organisation Enlighten Harm Reductionran on-site drug checking at festivals and events in Victoria until 2007, when political pressure and a lack of support forced them to abandon it.
“When GHB first came on the market in the late 90s/early 2000s there was the Dance Industry Association, which ran for four or five years,” he says. “It was a proactive group that worked with the state government to develop policies for self-regulated events in Melbourne. It was a safe code for running dance parties in the 2000s and it worked.We need to bring something like that back on a national level.”
http://inthemix.junkee.com/exclusiv...on-drugs-pill-testing-and-sniffer-dogs/137329
In the weeks that followed – while many argued it was time for Australia to bring in pill-testing – NSW Premier Mike Baird pledged to put in place new rules that could see major music festivals banned because of drug use. He wants government ministers to review how permits are granted for festivals and make it harder for them to go ahead, as well as making promoters accountable for overdoses at their events. In Baird’s worldview, “Individuals need to take responsibility for their actions, but so do the organisers of these festivals”.
But how much power do promoters really have to stop punters taking drugs? To find out, we asked the man whose 25-year resume includes a part in running Australia’s first ever dance festival (headed by Daft Punk, no less), the formation of techno flagship Hardware and one major national festival in the shape of Stereosonic. Richie McNeill – who founded Stereo in 2007 and worked on the festival until Totem Onelove’s sale to SFX in 2013 – has seen it all. As promoters of all shades will tell you, he’s also one of the most outspoken figures in the industry.
From why we need amnesty bins to the problem with sniffer dogs and the importance of having police at events, McNeill has strong ideas about what needs to change to make Australia a safer place to party. His beliefs might be controversial, but they’re also a rare insider’s perspective on the murky relationship between drugs and festivals – and with the drug debate heating up in 2016, it’s a viewpoint Australia needs to hear.
READ MORE
These summer party tips could save your life
[h=2]What promoters can and can’t do to stop drugs getting in[/h]McNeill wants to dispel the stigma that dance promoters don’t care about drug use at their events. “All of the major promoters go over and above the call of duty to provide a safe environment, and just because people are making bad choices as individuals we are seen as the bad guys,” he says.
“We don’t fucking promote drugs. We don’t have the power to search people thoroughly, we can’t carry weapons, we can’t lock people up. We can knock people back at the gate, which we do, but at the end of the day – even with police dogs there and the support of police – it’s really difficult. So for the papers and NSW Premier to attack [Field Day promoters] Fuzzy and say that they aren’t doing a good enough job is insulting. I think that’s just the typical response from the media and politicians who don’t understand what’s happening.
We can’t search people. We can pat them down, but we can’t say “open your wallet mate” and then hold them if we find something illegal. We can make them pull stuff out, but we can’t do a proper search. We can’t arrest people – you try to arrest some big six foot dude who is juiced up on steroids and alcohol, he’ll tell you to fuck off and smash two of your guards while he’s doing it. The steroid issue and “gym hulk” mentality in Australia is big too.
“We don’t have the power so there’s not much more we can do that we aren’t already doing. We can provide a safe place and work with the police. I think most promoters are already doing everything they can and so are the police.”
[h=6][/h][h=2]Why you can’t bring water in[/h]Those complaints about events not providing free water? Don’t believe them, says McNeill. “We have been giving away free water for 20 years. We used to allow people to bring water into festivals, but then GHB happened and people started using syringes to punch stuff into their bottles because we couldn’t test the water. So we had to ban people from bringing their own water in – but what we did is allow punters to bring in an empty bottle and fill it up inside. I don’t know any festival that doesn’t provide free water. They always have. The media suggesting this as a solution of late just shows you the people commenting have no clue what is happening, if they did they would know we already do.
We have been providing free water, we provide medical assistance, we search people on the way in, we are using metal detectors. We’re not amateurs, we’ve been doing this shit for years. Australia is known internationally for having some of the best-run festivals.”
[h=6][/h][h=2]Do promoters want pill testing?[/h]You bet. “If it saves lives it should be allowed. It also makes the government aware of what is being sold, so that they can give out warnings [when pills are bad]. I go to events in Amsterdam and there are signs up at some venues telling you what is on the market and what to stay away from. That can save people’s lives. I think it’s ridiculous that stuff can’t get tested here – pill testing isn’t promoting drugs, it’s making them safer and the majority of the time, it is deterring people from taking drugs..
In Europe, people go off on their lunchbreak during the week to get their pills tested – they drop them off, come back half an hour later and get their results. So they might buy one, test it and if it’s crap, they aren’t going to buy 10 for them and their mates. They might not get any for the weekend and just go grab a drink instead. That could save their life.”
[h=2]Sniffer dogs and the argument for amnesty bins[/h]“Sniffer dogs are a double-edged sword,” says McNeill. “I’m all for them because they’ve helped us keep a lot of drugs out of the events. They’ve assisted the police in finding large amounts of pills, charging people and then making their way back to the manufacturers, so there is a positive.”“But with the positive comes a negative, as kids freak out and they drop stuff before they come or they pre-load. Or they get there and if they see there’s lots of dogs so they’ll drop everything that they’ve got before they go in, and that puts them under an incredible amount of risk. It’s one of those things where I’m split right down the middle. I believe in them for helping to keep drugs out, but there is also the flipside that it’s encouraging and making punters take their stuff in larger amounts before they get detected.”
What he wants to see happen? “I think festivals should have amnesty bins. But the police say they can’t, because if people put stuff in the bins, they have to arrest them for possession. That’s just the way the law is written. The fact we don’t implement such a simple solution is mind boggling.
“Everywhere else there is amnesty bins so if [punters] see the dogs and they freak out they can just put it in the bin, walk away and no problem. It’s really fucking simple, they do it at Glastonbury and they do it at most major festivals. If there’s dogs out the front, you’ve got drugs on you and you don’t want to get arrested, you put them in the amnesty bin and go off and have a great day.”
[h=2]Why festivals need police[/h]Punters in 2016 might be put off by the amount of police at events but in decades’ past, promoters had to fight to get them there at all. Nowadays, promoters themselves foot the bill for police presence to make parties safer.“There was a bunch of venues like Melbourne Park and Etihad Stadium and a bunch of promoters like [Michael] Gudinski, Michael Coppell Presents, Future [Entertainment] and Hardware who all lobbied to the police so they could come back and police our events,” McNeill explains. “For years there they weren’t coming because they didn’t have the resources. In that period when the government failed to fund them enough and it started getting out of hand.
“The police were at the cricket because a lot of politicians like the cricket, they were at the football because a lot of politicians like football, and they were at the horse races because a lot of politicians like horse races. Then at Big Day Out and certain other sporting events there were hardly any police because they didn’t have the resources.
“For a good four or five years in Melbourne there was no user paid police. There is now, thank god, but there wasn’t in Perth until a couple of years ago. We had big police operations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide for Stereosonic, but not in Perth because Perth didn’t have a user paid system.”
And as for what happens when festivals don’t have police? “It was insane, we had bikies coming to the festival threatening to kill us and we had to hire big, big, big security to keep them out. It was like the wild west over there. Now it’s gotten a lot safer.”
“When GHB first came on the market in the late 90s/early 2000s there was the Dance Industry Association, which ran for four or five years,” he says. “It was a proactive group that worked with the state government to develop policies for self-regulated events in Melbourne. It was a safe code for running dance parties in the 2000s and it worked.We need to bring something like that back on a national level.”
http://inthemix.junkee.com/exclusiv...on-drugs-pill-testing-and-sniffer-dogs/137329
