Sniffer dogs and bag searches can make drug danger at festivals more likely, Victorian coroner finds | Australia news
A Victorian coroner examining the death of a 28-year-old woman has found that police, security guards, bag searches and sniffer dogs at music festivals can lead to riskier drug use and greater harm.
Trang Thi Thu Le collapsed, suffered a seizure and had a heart attack after consuming MDMA and ketamine at an electronic dance music event called Marlo Altitude held at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena in 2023.
Le attended the event on September 16 with his friends and partner to celebrate his birthday. He fell ill after dancing with his friends.
A medical emergency response team helped him, but despite all efforts, Le suffered a heart attack. The woman, who was hospitalized, died at 12.20 on her birthday, September 17, despite many treatments.
Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email
Inside Findings published WednesdayCoroner Ingrid Giles has recommended more comprehensive drug harm reduction guidance be created for music festival and event organizers in Victoria and that the state health department’s code of practice has not been updated since 2013.
He suggested the ministry update the guidelines in consultation with harm reduction and clinical experts.
“The common thread throughout the research is that countermeasures are specifically designed to stop people from using drugs.” [for example police, security guards, bag searches, sniffer dogs, higher penalties for drug possession] It has no positive effect on drug use or related harms, and in some cases may actually lead to riskier drug use and greater drug harms, Giles said.
In his research into Le’s death, Giles found that 18 people died of overdoses at Victorian music festivals and events from 2000 to 2024. Those who died were mostly young adults with an average age of 26, and MDMA was responsible for 15 of these deaths.
A submission to the coroner from Harm Reduction Victoria said practices such as regular checks of toilets at some music events by staff looking for signs of drug use, banning people from bringing water, long queues to access water, random “tap” searches of attendees and security-led interventions with people experiencing the effects of drugs could contribute to mistrust and fear among attendees.
This can lead to riskier drug-taking behavior, such as taking dangerous amounts of drugs to avoid being brought inside and caught before attending the event, the presentation said.
Limited information was available about the details and circumstances surrounding Le’s drug use prior to her death, and Giles did not make any adverse findings regarding the handling of the Marlo Altitude incident.
However, in the context of other similar deaths and after considering submissions and evidence from experts, Giles felt the need to critically examine what guidance was currently available to music event organizers on how to run safe events.
Giles praised free and confidential pill testing trial This ongoing project in Victoria identifies it as a vital part of the state’s overall harm reduction strategy.
“Drug checking or pill testing services at outdoor music festivals have been found to be associated with people using lower doses of drugs and being more likely to discard potentially dangerous drugs,” he said.
