Sunday, April 21, 2019

Festival And Drug Abuse Among Young Adults (Johnny Tovalin)


Festivals and Drug Abuse 


      There is an on going issue that many people overlook or choose to ignore and that is the use of drugs at festivals. Young adults are the majority of attendees ranging from 18-25 as well as the major users of drugs. We have come to a time where we no now have to include "party supplies" as preparation for these events. Living in California and attending many of these festivals and raves, it's become the norm to see people doing cocaine at the shows as well as ecstasy. Many of the security and event holders know of this problem, but choose to ignore it and treat it as a surprise when something bad happens. I have seen people deal drugs in front of security and all security does is "hey don't do that" and let them go. It is believed to be that the company's holding the events hire private security so that none of this gets reported and are just there to make sure people don't get too crazy. Drugs and festivals is not something new, but has began to get out of control as popular events such as Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) and Coachella grow in size. There have been numerous deaths at EDC and other Insomniac events; which are a major event organizer which host EDC as well as many others who are let off this accountability. The reason I chose this issue is because I too attend these events as well as many of my friends and many of them are not as educated in harm reduction as I am. As I grow older and slowly work my way out of the scene, I hope that I am able to help possibly students or parents of these young adults to help educate them to make the right decision. My younger brother is in this category and I too hope to educate him to make smart decisions. We must ask ourselves if this is the fault of the event organizers or are we pressured into making bad mistakes?

       So what are the drugs people are mostly doing at the festivals that are so bad? So ranking in popularity of drugs at festivals from (https://edm.com/lifestyle/most-used-festival-drugs) are from # 1 Alcohol. Not so bad as majority of people would agree, but combine with other drugs makes for a different story. #2 Marijuana, again not too bad as it is legal and California and easy to obtain, but is most of the time consumed with another drug. #3 MDMA/ Molly/ Ecstasy , Very popular among the rave scene and is often the leading factor in majority of deaths at these events. #4 Mushrooms, even though not as dangerous to the body, can cause more intense hallucinations than most drugs and can increase risk of an accident or DUI after the event. Coming in on #5 is LSD which very much like mushrooms can impair users much longer after the event. Some things to realize about these drugs is with the exception of alcohol is that they are easy to smuggle in and very easy to consume without getting caught. The question we must ask is why young adults would choose to do these drugs rather than to go and enjoy the music? I decided that I would go to Coachella and see for myself what influences there could be.


     Before arriving to Coachella on Friday I saw many signs and promotions to after parties on billboards, but this one stuck out the most. It was a sign promoting the next EDC which said "Big Desert Party 1-833-EDC-2019". Right then you already know that EDC is just a big party in the desert because why else would you go out in that heat. Often time these companies use Festival's or Carnivals as the preferred terms rather than saying parties or raves. In all honesty these are pretty much giant parties, and what's a party without any drugs? Upon arriving mid-day on a Friday it didn't seem like people were getting to crazy, most were enjoying the music holding their alcohol beverages and dancing. As time began to past the music became more intense and there was less sunlight but more lasers and lights is where things began to change. You can tell right away from their giant pupil size as the lights flashed that people begun to take ecstasy. The deeper in the crowd you went the more noticeable it became and the smell of marijuana increased. Even as artist performed, they encouraged the use of drugs and played songs about it. There was even one song the played that just shouted "Fucked up" again and again. Now there was security since this is an all ages event, but most of them were just at the main entrance doing the worst security pat downs ever. Was it their fault in training or were they instructed is the real question. There were a few arrest and medical incidents that I saw, but there was also a lot of people who were completely "out of it" and that security said were "fine". I could really see how both festivals and drugs go hand and hand. Everything from the trippy art displays and visuals that they had there. Let's not just take my experience, so lets ask someone else. 





     Let's meet Eugene, a 20 year old college student who attended his first Coachella this year. He asked to leave his last name out but was happy to answer my questions. I spotted Eugene during a DJ set was playing and could see the trademark pupil dilated and decided to ask if he was "rolling" a term for one under the influence of Ecstasy. He replied with a thumps up , and after some small talk agreed to answer my questions.

- I asked what type of drugs he had taken today in which he replied " Just pre-gamed a bit today before the event and a pill". 
-First time rolling? "I've rolled a few times before"
-Why ecstasy? "Because it feels fucking great, best night ever!"

-Are any of your friends rolling too? "All of them, we go hard"
-How often do you do ecstasy? " Whenever there's a big event like this one soo...…. like 5 times a year
Aren't you scared "Not anymore, the first time I was, but that changed my life and now I love it.

I was only able to ask a few questions as his concentration and music in the background made it very difficult. I was able to ask a staff member who went by Mary who was willing to answer a few questions. She didn't want to answer more or giver her last name since she was working and didn't want this to affect her job.

-Do you see a lot of people on drugs at your events " Oh yeah, all the time"
-Do you ever stop anyone or had to report someone " We don't really stop anyone, as who knows what they'll do on them drugs. I had to report one guy because he was naked peeing in the middle of the walkway but that's about it...we just focus on people not getting hurt and not what they do"


As we can see from the data from Drugabuse.org, a majority age group fall under the young adults category 18-25 years of age for ecstasy use. This statement held true at Coachella as well as the other events I have been to. Till they last day of Coachella it seemed like a growing trend to see the drug usage at night and the constant smell of marijuana in the air. On the ride home Sunday I began to reflect on what it was that compelled young adults to consume such drugs and put their life in danger. Was it the though of raging hard at these events? Was it the propaganda we see through media and the artwork displayed? Maybe it was a growing trend or these young adults trying to escape reality for these few moments. Whatever the reason, we need to create a solution to help reduce the risk of drug related incidents at these events and better educate people to make smarter decisions. 




* Photos were taken by myself of Coachella, all other photos were otherwise cited


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