NEWS: Herald Sun - 21/12/08 'Rave partygoers in drug overdose shock in Melbourne'

Rave partygoers' in drug overdose shock in Melbourne
Article from: Herald Sun
Stephen Drill and Matt Johnston
December 21, 2008 05:48am


A dance party held at Festival Hall, saw a dozen party goers taken to hospital after taking party drugs. Picture: Chris Scott

A DRUG-FUELLED rave party at Melbourne's festival Hall saw 12 people taken to hospital with drug overdoses.

Ambulance officers had to ferry patients between the venue and the Royal Melbourne Hospital and The Alfred hospital between 8.30pm last night and midnight.

Police were also called to the scene at the X-Qlusive dance party.

Metropolitan Amubulance Service health commander Paul Holman said most of the overdoses were related to the drug GHB, known on the streets as GBH or Grevious Bodily Harm.

GHB is a mood-altering drug which slows the heartrate and affects breathing patterns.

"It's lucky we haven't lost any lives," he said.

"It's called grevious bodily harm and that's what it does to you."

A 21-year-old rave partygoer, Nhuan, said there were a lot of party drugs at the rave.

"Nine out of ten people were on something," he said.

"As much as there is a drug culture here, there is a responsible way to do it."

Security guards were considering closing down the party early because of the health scare, but decided against it.

St John's Ambulance regional manager Lucas Anderson said the number of overdoes was highly unusual despite the drug-taking culture of rave parties.

Mr Anderson said St John's officers had administered first aid on more than 30 revellers, many of whom were drug-affected.

"We started off with five volunteers, then that went up to 25," he said.

"We weren't expecting it, that's for sure."

About 2000 patrons paid $105.50 for tickets to the rave party, which was scheduled to finish at 1am.

Herald Sun

Drug affected dance-goers taken to hospital
Britt Smith and Janae Houghton
December 21, 2008

AT LEAST 17 drug-affected party-goers were taken to hospital last night after attending a dance event at Festival Hall.

About 2000 people packed the Dudley Street venue for the over-18s electronic music concert, X-Qlusive.

Metropolitan Ambulance Service health commander Paul Holman said the drug-takers were stabilised at the venue before being taken to the Royal Melbourne and Alfred hospitals after taking knock-out drug GBH.

Another Ambulance Victoria spokesman said about five paramedics treated up to 17 men and women aged from 17 to their early 20s by 1am.

"It looks like there will be more, so we will continue into the night," he said.

"They are taking people to hospital and then coming back (to the venue)."

The first party-goer was treated shortly after 9pm.

"St John Ambulance was in attendance... and we were called to transport (the victims)," the spokesman said.

GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), is also known as GBH, grievous bodily harm, fantasy, liquid ecstasy, liquid E, or liquid X.

Social use of the drug has been increasing in recent years.

Senior Constable Adam West, of Police media, said no-one had been arrested at the venue.

"Police went to assist ambulance (officers) and did a walk-through of the venue to assist with crowd welfare," he said.

"Our major concern is for the patrons of the venue."

The Age

X-Qlusive Melbourne rave partygoers in drug shock
By Edwina Scott
AAP
December 21, 2008 02:45pm

PARAMEDICS suspect bad drugs may have caused a large group of youths to become seriously ill at a weekend rave party in Melbourne.

More than 30 ravers at Festival Hall in West Melbourne were treated for varying conditions after taking gamma-hydroxybutyrate, known as GHB, on Saturday night.

Effects of the drug included fits and respiratory depression.

Twelve partygoers aged 17 to early-20s were taken to city hospitals in serious conditions, while 13 others made their own way to emergency departments.

Ambulance Victoria operations manager Paul Holman said the incident was one of the worst paramedics had attended in recent times.

"The seriousness of some of these people that presented last night really concerned us and it's only a matter of time before we get a death," Mr Holman said.

"We certainly know what they've been taking, we see the evidence of it.

"They had vials in their pockets last night."

A 21-year-old rave partygoer, Nhuan, said there were a lot of party drugs at the rave.

"Nine out of ten people were on something," he said.

"As much as there is a drug culture here, there is a responsible way to do it."

Mr Holman said those affected last night could have been victims of a bad batch of GHB.

"The numbers that we got last night certainly would indicate that there is a bad batch of drugs going around," he said.

Victoria Police Inspector David Blencowe said shutting down rave parties was not necessarily the best approach to protecting patrons.

"The responsibility to close down a premises is one that can be exercised by an assistant commissioner but there have to be some fairly stringent criteria applied before you can do that," Insp Blencowe said.

"It can be a double-edged sword because if you do close down a venue with several thousand patrons, then you've got the issue of management of those patrons when they dissipate."

News.com.au

Reader comments

The problem with the drug epedemic is in the basics of markets. The authorities attack supply, with a lack of effort given to the demand side of the equation. Basic economies tell us markets are driven by demand v supply. But, governments through police attempt to target supply, which simply put means demand (and price, a further detrimental effect on society) to go up. Basic free markets tell us the way to cut supply is to cut demand - that is, the drug user. All the emphasis on the suppliers (dealers) is a waste of time without ever more effort placed on demand. If you put a mandatory jail sentance of 1 year or more on any person found under the influence of an illicit drug, demand will drop like a lead balloon. Then what happens? Supply decreases as the margins on the product deminish, to a point whereby it is no longer economical to produce/supply the stuff. You attack supply through demand, not demand through supply. Look up a basic supply v demand graph. In short, the authorities have it back to front, and wonder why they are going nowhere with it. Mandatory jail sentances for this idiots who OD - that will deter a potential user 100x more than a slap on the wrist.

Posted by: joey of Melbourne 4:12pm today
Comment 19 of 41

I read an interesting report on the cost of policing drugs in NSW which made me very angry - this money could have been spent policing real crime i.e. assaults, thefts and murder. What makes me even angrier is seeing the strong link between the incidence of assaults and the use of drugs - why do we tolerate these drugs in our society when there is such a strong and undeniable link to violence!!! This cost doesn't even begin to take into account the real cost these fools impose on our paramedics and hospitals. I agree about rapid and large scale enorcement - immediate incarceration for those appearing in public under the influence of drugs - like that fool from television. Take it off the streets, it is not acceptable.

Posted by: Disgusted of Brisbane 5:32pm today
Comment 36 of 41

Nhuan, I'm afraid "the responsible way of doing it" is not doing it at all. Stop making excuses for the masses and wake up to yourself - all drugs are dangerous, 'bad batch' or not. They're also illegal... I ask myself why those who are blatantly caught are not disciplined. Also, to 'educated druggie of Ibiza': If you are as educated as you say you are, you'd have the brains to realise that you are, as kon of Melbourne says, playing with death. Long term effects of GHB are still unknown; just pray that they aren't life-changing or ending.

Posted by: nickWalnut of Sydney 4:15pm today
Comment 22 of 41

12 overdose at Melbourne dance party

A dozen people had to be taken to hospital after overdosing at a dance party in Melbourne's Festival Hall last night.

Ambulance officer Lucas Anderson says the party-goers, in their late teens and early 20s, were treated for the effects of the drug GHB.

"Unfortunately, the nature of GHB, it's a very unpredictable drug," he said.

"It is difficult to police or control and the effects are variable.

"It would appear that there's been a large number of GHB-affected people, who've all come under the effects in a similar period of time."

The Australian Drug Foundation says the number of people who overdosed is a major concern.

The Foundation's chief executive, John Rogerson, says GHB is dangerous and unpredictable.

"The difficulty with all these drugs is we just don't know what they're made of, and they're made different ways by different people," he said.

"So because of that, it is such a high-risk strategy for kids, and luckily in this case, these kids weren't adversely affected to the point that risked their lives.

"But they've all ended up in hospital, which is something that all of us don't want to happen."

ABC

Party drug fatality 'just a matter of time'
Bridie Smith and Julia Medew
December 23, 2008

PARAMEDICS and drug education groups have warned revellers of the deadly risk of party drug GHB, after more than 30 people were treated for seizures and respiratory problems at a dance party at the weekend.

Saturday's emergency was the most significant GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) overdose since 2004 with drug-affected revellers suffering fits, dehydration and breathing problems during the Festival Hall dance party. At least 25 people were admitted to hospital.

Ambulance Victoria operations manager Paul Holman said the overdoses could be a sign of things to come over the New Year period when tens of thousands of people will attend dance parties in the city.

"We haven't seen this for a long time. If these drugs are out on the streets a week away from New Year's Eve, I'm pretty concerned they will get into these other events. Add heat, alcohol and other drugs to dance parties and that's the perfect storm for us … It's only a matter of time before someone dies," he said.

Mr Holman, who tended to some of the overdose cases on Saturday night, said the patients, aged between 17 and 30, were seriously ill, with some requiring sedation and airway management to prevent choking.

"Some of them were extremely agitated and one of them was fitting … It took eight or nine people to hold one guy down on the stretcher before we could start treating him."

The acting director of the Royal Melbourne Hospital's emergency department, Dr Glenn Harrison, said hospitals had seen increasing numbers of patients under the influence of GHB in recent years.

He said the drug was more likely to put people into a coma than other amphetamines. It could also cause patients to exhale vomit, causing serious pneumonia.

"We've referred lots of these patients to intensive care over the years," he said. "If people want to do this, they have to be prepared for the consequences."

Paul Dillon from Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia said the drug was moving from the gay scene to the mainstream.

"It worries me greatly for the upcoming party season," he said. "This is a highly risky drug … every weekend around Australia you see GHB overdoses."

Mr Dillon also said he suspected the weekend's mass overdose could have been the result of GBL — not GHB. A similar liquid drug, GBL (gamma butyrolactone), is an industrial solvent used to make plastics. While it has a strong chemical taste and smell — noticeably different to GHB, which is softer and salty in taste — Mr Dillon said inexperienced party-goers "wouldn't have had a clue" they were taking something different.

He said most of the GHB on Australian streets was probably GBL, which becomes GHB once consumed. Although the euphoric effect is similar to GHB, GBL's high is delayed — meaning people risk overdose by taking a second serve, not realising the first hit is still to come. Some suspect the drug is gaining popularity at parties and raves, as sniffer dogs aren't trained to detect GHB and it can be concealed in small containers.

Party organisers have said they will be on full alert. The director of the Sensation New Year's Eve party, Duncan Stutterheim, said 50 security guards and 40 St John Ambulance volunteers would be at the event at Docklands stadium.

"My advice to people who want to (take drugs) is don't come at all," he said.

Future Entertainment director Jason Ayoubi said drug takers would not be welcome at his events, including Summerdaze on New Years' Day, Kiss My Grass on January 25 and the Future Music Festival in March.

Mr Ayoubi said there would be bag searches and identity checks, with sniffer dogs at major events.

"We've been pretty heavy-handed against people who use drugs and GHB at our events."

A report released last week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that in 2007, about 17,300 Australians aged 14 or older had used GHB in the previous 12 months.

With KYLIE NORTHOVER

The Age

No drugs thanks, as 40,000 descend on Docklands
Kylie Northover
December 23, 2008

ONE of the organisers of last weekend's dance event at which 30 people overdosed on the drug GHB has claimed that his New Year's Eve event is "not a rave" and "will attract a more mainstream, more mature crowd" not into taking drugs.

The Sensation dance party, to be held at Docklands stadium, is expected to attract more than 40,000 people.

With DJs, performers and theatrics, plus a sit-down dinner ticket option, the event, which began in Amsterdam in 2000, is set to be one of the city's biggest events on New Year's Eve.

But Duncan Stutterheim, Sensation chief executive, said drugs would not be tolerated at his inaugural Australian event.

Eager to distance Sensation from last weekend's event — and having already been contacted by police concerned about next week's dance parties in the city — Mr Stutterheim emphasised safety at the event.

"We have security guards at the door who will do bag checks and we have 40 people from St John Ambulance," he said.

"We have a very simple policy, it's a no-drugs policy. You will not get into the venue if you have drugs."

But he admitted that policing up to 40,000 people could prove difficult. "Of course I can't control people," he said.

While there is an option for ticket-holders to pay for dinner, most revellers will be there for the music, which will continue until sunrise on January 1.

"It finishes at 6am, yes, but this is mainly because if we have 40,000 people leaving, it's easier for people to get home once the public transport has started," Mr Stutterheim said.

He reacted angrily when asked about his involvement with last weekend's Christmas Kandy rave at Festival Hall, at which 30 people were treated after ingesting a "bad batch" of the drug GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate).

"My company just supplied the DJs for that event — I wasn't even there. I don't know why people are calling me about this. It's nothing to do with me," Mr Stutterheim said.

The $4.3 million Sensation party — managed by Mr Stutterheim, his wife, Lisca, and a team of 20 — will be a "happy new year event", he said.

Sensation attracted 20,000 revellers the first year it was held in Amsterdam. The following year, Mr Stutterheim's brother, Miles, who had helped initiate the event, died in a car accident.

As a tribute, guests at the second Sensation party were asked to wear all white, a spectacle that proved so staggering Mr Stutterheim instigated a permanent all-white dress code.

More than 34,000 tickets to the Melbourne event have been sold, with 45 per cent from interstate. "Melbourne is already the events capital in Australia and now we are bringing in lots of people for New Year's Eve," Mr Stutterheim said. "I hope Sensation will become an annual New Year spectacle."

The Age

Crackdown on rave parties after dozens overdose on GBH
Article from: Herald Sun
John Ferguson and Alice Coster
December 22, 2008 12:00am

THE Brumby Government has declared war on rogue rave operators after more than 30 people suffered life-threatening drug overdoses at a Festival Hall dance party.

Rave-party organisers with bad records who allow drugs to flourish at their events will be denied permits under tough new sanctions planned for the industry.

Permits will be harder to get for other operators after dozens of party-goers fell seriously ill at the X-clusive rave, which finished early yesterday.

A bad batch of the killer drug GHB, also known as GBH or Grievous Bodily Harm, was blamed for the emergency.

Twelve party-goers were taken to city hospitals in a serious condition, while others were taken to emergency departments by friends.

They suffered fits, breathing problems, dehydration and hyperthermia - a heat-related illness that also can kill.

Consumer Affairs Minister Tony Robinson issued a warning to the dance party industry through the Herald Sun.

"If promoters are out there running events that are unsafe, then they are going to find it a lot harder to get a permit in the future," he said.

"I'm putting them on notice."

Ambulance officers were overwhelmed as they ferried party-goers to the Royal Melbourne and Alfred hospitals during Saturday night.

It took eight paramedics and ambulance staff to restrain one man.

Ambulance officers are alarmed the toxic batch of GHB has arrived as the music festival season gets into full swing.

Next week's Sensation party at Telstra Dome is expected to attract tens of thousands of party-goers.

Mr Robinson said the number of casualties on Saturday was unacceptable.

"I expect, and I think the community expects, that if these events are going to be held, they are done so in an environment that is safe for the people who are attending," he said.

"I'll be having private discussions with the Director of Liquor Licensing this week about tougher sanctions and stricter permit conditions but this is a warning that they are on notice."

GHB claimed its first fatality in Victoria in 2005 when nurse Belinda Davey died in a drug dealer's car outside a city dance club.

Ambulance Victoria operations manager Paul Holman warned it was only a matter of time before another party-goer died.

"This is a very dangerous drug," he said.

"It can absolutely kill you and there are recorded deaths from it. It's called grievous bodily harm and that's what it does to you.

"The seriousness of some of these people that presented themselves on Saturday night really concerned us and it's only a matter of time before we get a death."

Director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Education Australia, Paul Dillon, said GHB was a lethal drug.

"It can kill, and has killed. People are really playing Russian roulette with their lives."

Dozens of party-goers were taken to hospital after two rave parties at Kryal Castle last year.

Police Inspector David Blencowe denied suggestions police should have shut down Saturday night's event.

Up to 2000 party-goers filled Festival Hall for the drug-fuelled dance party.

Police face a huge task on New Year's Eve for the Sensation event.

"Certainly with an event like that I would imagine there would be significant police resources deployed and there would be a number of proactive steps taken, as well as trying to actually police the event," he said.

Organisers of Sensation distanced themselves from Saturday night's emergency.

"Sensation has asked people not to take drugs and are doing anything police and safety officers have asked," spokeswoman Erin Jameson said.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle slammed irresponsible rave-party operators.

"You don't give permits to people for these rave parties unless they can show us a great track record in managing large numbers of kids at a rave party," he said.

Herald Sun

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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/gallery/0,22010,5036560-5006020,00.html

Convincing kids that all batches are bad
Fergus Watts
December 23, 2008 12:00am

FACE facts - drug use on the streets of Melbourne is rife. It seems to be increasing.

And the use of party drugs inside Melbourne's pubs and clubs is commonplace.

The "bad batch" of GHB at the X-Qlusive rave party on the weekend has thrown this issue back into the spotlight. Another blight on Generation Y, you think?

But, hang on, has drug use ever not been part of our society?

Has this issue ever left our streets?

The answer is no.

In earlier parts of history, this was an issue with "the establishment" and the old upper class.

Cocaine was a popular drug of the wealthy back in the 1920s, we're told.

So let's not start pointing fingers.

Drugs are a part of our society, they always have been and they always will be. Let's look at these facts. An ecstasy pill can be picked up for about $25. That's the same as three vodkas.

The only difference is one will keep you going all night. The other you could have over dinner.

For the average apprentice or university student with very low disposable income, which one is the more attractive option?

I am not here saying that drugs are OK. No way.

I am saying that they are very much a part of mainstream society and we all know it. The issue here is the ongoing use of these drugs.

It leads not only to major health issues. It leads to broken homes, violence, potential disengagement from society, and, of course, death.

The ongoing use of party drugs needs committed government intervention and initiatives.

If you haven't been touched by it yet, it won't be long before someone you love is, directly or indirectly, effected.

During my time playing AFL with St Kilda, the AFL Players Association implemented a drug education program for all players. I know this definitely had an effect on me.

This program was not based around scare tactics. They won't work.

It wasn't based on the horrible after-effects drug abuse can cause, either. This is the angle taken by the Government nine out of 10 times when they run scare campaigns through their advertisements. They show us the after-effects of anything they can get their hands on. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling, speeding, you name it we've seen it.

The most recent example was the display of smashed up cars at Federation Square. For many of the kids who saw it, this turned into more of an art show than anything else. It was always going to.

The response to these scare tactics from the target market of these campaigns is: "Well, it won't happen to me".

The AFLPA takes a different approach. They take the Drug Squad to every AFL club. They show images of drug labs where ecstasy, cocaine, speed and ice are being made everyday. They take players on a journey inside the production labs.

You see what happens to every tablet that ends up on the streets of Melbourne.

These images are real.

They are not nice.

The players see not only the chemicals and substances that are used but the environment and the filthy state of the kitchens where this stuff is made.

The Government not long ago ran an advertisement with a similar message.

It had an impact. It graphically showed the state of these drug labs and the people making them.

This type of campaign takes away the answer: "It won't happen to me".

It brings into the light what is happening everyday to every drug that is made.

Last weekend we saw a "bad batch" cause 30 young Melburnians to end up in hospital.

See what happens to this stuff before it hits the streets and you've really got to wonder how they could ever make a "good" batch.

Fergus Watts is chief executive of theirspacegroup, which assists companies in engaging with younger staff and young consumers

Herald Sun