Drugs at concerts: Still up to you to say 'no'

Want some?" asked a man clad in a singlet and bright neon shorts.

He was offering me cannabis, or weed as it is commonly called, in a plastic bag.

I said "no". But it was clear that many others did not think the same way. The smell of weed permeated the air at the Rockness Festival, an annual dance music event in Inverness, Scotland, that I had attended last year.

I was carrying a tent and a huge backpack as I entered the festival grounds. Yet, bag checks were relaxed at best.

They barely opened a backpack and did not even open the bag that was carrying my tent.

LAX SECURITY

There were sniffer dogs. But surely the security could have done more. More stringent bag checks for one thing.

Concert organisers should ensure that all measures are taken to protect the concertgoers from drug peddlers.

After all, in 2012, a teenager had died after taking a drug known as Benzo Fury at the same festival.

Similarly, when I was attending a one-day festival in London last year, the security checks were extremely lax.

The result? Groups of people taking out vials of cocaine and snorting it right in front of me multiple times throughout the nine-hour event.

Clearly, they did not think they would get caught. They probably did not give a hoot either.

Getting high was their only priority.

I thought this happened only in Europe.

So imagine my surprise when news broke that six people had died from overdosing on drugs at Future Music Festival Asia.

I was more shocked when I received news that Singaporeans were involved in taking drugs at the event.

When I visited some women admitted to a Kuala Lumpur hospital last Saturday night for suspected drug overdose, they did not look anything like drug users.

They looked like normal, professional women.

One woman's parents said she had no history of drug abuse.

This could be one mistake that is going to affect these women for the rest of their lives.

Let's face it. No matter how strict event organisers are with their checks, there are bound to be a handful who will still get in with drugs.

So your answer to "want some?" will decide how you spend the rest of your life.

Or how long that life may be.

Share your thoughts. Write to Jennifer at djenn@sph.com.sg

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