I read with interest Alex Crowe's opinion piece on the CWD website.
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Firstly, the NSW Coroner can only make recommendations. It is up to, in this instance, the NSW Government of the day to consider any recommendations and implement if they see fit.
Secondly, I am astonished that someone can believe that there is such a thing as safe illegal drug use. No illegal drug use is safe.
... I will ensure I pass on the same message to my children. No illicit substance is safe to take.
- Matthew Chisholm
Do we really want to live in a society where drug use at festivals is de-criminalised? That's what Coroner Graham is recommending. Some recent deaths that have come about from illegal drug usage at music festivals have been after a 'one off consumption'. Doesn't that indicate that the risk far outweighs any gain?
I agree with the position of the New South Wales Premier, along with the Victorian Premier that it would quite clearly send the wrong message to the community as well as give people a very real false sense of security. The only safe way to prevent drug related deaths anywhere at any time, is not to take illicit drugs.
I was 18 years of age and living in Sydney when Anna Wood tragically died after she took one tablet that contained MDMA. One tablet, that is all it took.
The tablet was not contaminated, her death was purely a reaction to the drug she consumed.
No amount of pill testing would have saved Anna on that occasion, nor would it prevent parents receiving a midnight phone call from the police/ambulance or hospital staff.
I've never taken drugs and being a father of two young children I will ensure I pass on the same message to my children. No illicit substance is safe to take.
