She’s spent the day swimming in the ocean and lying by the hotel pool, surrounded by friends and celebrating Schoolies on the Gold Coast. Her wristband glows on her forearm as she dresses for a night of partying among the rest of the nation’s school leavers.
There are more pills than there have been in previous years. The drug MDMA is easy to buy. It’s cheap, retailing for between $20 and $30 a pill, according to the 2016 Global Drug Survey. The hangover reportedly isn’t as sickening as alcohol and it won’t make her tired.
Her friends have told her about the feelings of euphoria and body tingling that last several hours. But what she isn’t expecting – what no one has told her – is how her racing heartbeat will make her scared. How she’ll look around, wondering if people can see her chest pounding through her T-shirt. There is the anxiety that something is about to go terribly, horribly wrong. There is the increased body temperature, extreme thirst and the urge to vomit.
This year, twice as many female school leavers have been treated for intoxication and drug use than males at Schoolies on the Gold Coast, Seven News reports. On Sunday night, paramedics treated 95 people and transported two to hospital. On Monday night, it was 89 people treated on Cavill Avenue and six taken to hospital.
It’s only day four.
“Interestingly we have noticed that on both evenings so far the number of female patients we have had has doubled the number of male patients,” Queensland Ambulance Service special events co-ordinator Justin Payne told the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday. “It’s a little bit concerning.”
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Top Comments
Decriminalize it, regulate it, allow pill testing. Almost all deaths come from poor information and batches that include things OTHER than MDMA. Just by itself though MDMA is much safer than alcohol.
The left has become just as bad on this issue wanting to just throw everyone in jail and not have to "deal" with it.
Legislation doesn’t work for opioids or alcohol so why would it work for MDMA? Who is going to dispense it? Pharmacists i’m assuming? Are they going to be remunerated for the additional burden of having to deal with people on MDMA (compromising their time to deal with people with actual medical conditions)?
Research from overseas shows that pill testing stations reduce drug taking - people will dispose of drugs if they are shown not have the true substances. Kids will ALWAYS experiment, best to teach them how to use safely, and what to do if they suffer adverse effects. I would like to see the issue of drug use move to public health policy issue, rather than in the sphere of law and order and criminality. Clearly the “War in Drugs” and “Just say No” campaigns have failed dismally.
Interestingly, many of the parents of today's Schoolies will not be strangers to ecstasy - it was a huge drug in the 90's (especially in the rave scene), with some publicised deaths (of affluent kids). Probably little need to write about it like it's a new drug no one will have heard of!
Anna Wood in Sydney died around the end of school summer party period for my peer group. But the message that was sent was “Say No to Drugs” instead of saying you won’t be in trouble if you seek medical help for yourself or a friend in distress. Kids will never stop experimenting with drugs - information and support is key to preventing overdose.