After rave deaths, drug education needed

On the first day of August, rather than dwell on the sad fact that summer is coming to an end, thousands of people rushed to the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds for the Hard Summer music festival. They flooded in, wearing tight spandex and bright makeup, ready to listen to the sounds of The Weeknd and Odesza.

Two girls, however, didn’t get the chance to spend the weekend with their friends or scream when their favorite acts came on stage. Instead, they were rushed to the hospital before the end of the first night. Eighteen-year-old Tracy Nguyen and 19-year-old Katie Dix were tragically both pronounced dead early Sunday morning due to suspected overdoses of illegal drugs. Once word got out, L.A. County officials made a hasty and ineffective decision to ban raves, incorrectly deeming it the only solution to the prevalent drug abuse.

The deaths at the Hard Summer music festival have revived a greater conversation about illegal drug use at raves. Such a debate is not new by any means; in 2010, USC’s very own Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum witnessed the death of a 15-year-old during the Electric Daisy Carnival, which called for the Coliseum’s temporary ban on raves. As history repeats itself, officials have unanimously voted to ban these types of events on the county’s soil — yet again.

The idea of banning raves altogether to reduce drug use is synonymous with preaching abstinence rather than educating young people on safe sex measures. In an ideal world, prevention would be the best solution, but realistically, officials and leaders need to understand that drugs will always be around and available. Whether dancing at a fairground or going to a party at a friend’s house, anyone can choose to take drugs. `

A much better answer is drug education. If these two girls knew the various effects of different drugs or warning signs when under the influence, perhaps they could have gotten the necessary medical treatment before it was too late. If their friends were also educated, they could have rushed to get help at the first sign of trouble.

The education process could manifest itself in a few different ways. A mandatory online               drug-education course could be put into place when a ticket to a rave is purchased, similar to the courses universities make all of their new students take. Even if a few people in the large crowd knew when medical attention was necessary, a life could be saved.

Unfortunately, accidental overdoses may still occur, so the education process needs to go one step further. People need to know their rights. They need to know that they can and should call for help in the event of a medical emergency, even if illegal drugs are involved.

California’s “Good Samaritan” law protects both the caller and victim from any legal repercussions in a situation where medical treatment is necessary. For example, if someone was at a rave and knew the person next to him or her desperately needed medical attention, he or she could call 911 to get help without having to worry about being arrested or prosecuted for drug use. Though the law is not advertised so as not to encourage illegal drug use, maybe it is time for it to stop being swept under the rug. If more people knew about it, they would bring friends or even strangers to the nearest medical tent or medical professional when necessary. When people wait to seek help and fear getting in trouble, lives can be lost.

Millions of people attend raves each year, spending weekends surrounded by music and people who want to have a great time. Known for promoting love and unity, the rave community is an important part of people’s lives around the world. While these overdoses should absolutely not have happened at the Hard Summer music festival, they were not an immediate result of the event, the venue or the security. Their deaths are not a reflection of the rave culture, but of the lack of drug education in general.

Overdoses are one of the leading causes of death each year in the United States, but most of those don’t happen at dance festivals. According to the New York Times, about 19 people have died due to overdoses or drugs at a music festival in California and Las Vegas — where most of the major festivals take place — since 2006. Compared to the 38,329 fatal overdoses that occurred in the U.S. in 2010, deaths at music festivals pale in comparison to drug overdoses in other settings.         Drug-related incidents can happen in a home, at a park or after a party, and until we stop relying on prevention and start relying on education, they won’t stop any time soon.