As the pill testing debate continues to rage on throughout the country, Rainbow Serpent Festival has called out the government’s inaction on the matter as the reason why drug-related deaths at festivals keep happening.
Festival spokesperson Tim Harvey told ABC Radio yesterday that the festival is a “microcosm of what is going on in the public and the broader community faces the same challenges that we do.”
“I think the issue has been created by 30 years of failed drug policy – and we are waiting on the government to fix that.”
This statement comes after Rainbow Serpent called on state government to allow pill testing, voicing the same message that Australia’s largest music festivals have called for. And the country’s peak body of doctors. And the family members of victims. And hundreds of people that took to the streets of Sydney.
According to SBS, three men were rushed to hospital in critical conditions from suspected drug overdoses at this year’s Rainbow Serpent Festival, and another three were treated for drug overdoses.
Three people were also taken to hospital after a truck rolled into their campsite at the festival.
