Over the weekend Sydney hosted one of it’s most celebrated music festivals, Harbourlife, which tragically saw the death of one punter due to alleged drug consumption.
The person has been identified as Georgia Bartter, a 19-year old student from Sydney’s north who had an adverse reaction to drugs in the afternoon of the Saturday event, sadly losing her life that evening at St. Vincent’s Hospital as The Age reports.
Accounts from Ms. Bartter’s friends who were also in attendance told police that she had consumed “1 and-a-half pills” although it is yet to be specified what kind of pills she had taken.
In a Channel Nine report, Bartter’s distraught family spoke of the teenager, stating she was “a beautiful and vibrant young woman, who was much loved and will be sadly missed” before continuing, “she had allergies and it was extremely out of character.”
The festival headlined by the likes of Kygo, Dusky Lee and Foss saw police make 78 drug-related arrests.
Superintendent Mark Walton, commander of the Sydney City Command spoke of the relationship between dance events and drug use, “It does not matter what location they’re held in, there’s no doubt that the nature of the entertainment is intrinsically linked to that drug use.”
Continuing, he raised caution, “They have no idea what’s contained in them. It’s risky behaviour that we really should be trying to move away from.”
Adding to these comments, a Sydney emergency department doctor spoke of the on-going crisis of illicit drug consumption, “The big danger comes when you mix pills and, in the past, there have been deaths from people just taking two tablets with different chemicals. But if you have two tablets that have different mechanisms, you can have a massive outpouring of serotonin leading to death.”
Harbourlife have since released an official statement via Facebook, reading,
This awful news arrives not long after the tragic loss of at least three people at Amsterdam Dance Event due to the consumption of illicit drugs. With the Aussie festival season now in full swing, we encourage punters to party responsibly. Look out for your mates and don’t take unnecessary risks, safety always comes first.
