After we saw the death of a 25-year old woman and the arrest of 70 others at Stereosonic Sydney, another person has died over the weekend at the Adelaide leg. A 19-year-old man, identified as Stefan Woodward lost his life after he was said to have taken a illicit drug.
South Australian policed issued a statement with details of the incident and identified the pills that may be related, saying:
“The initial investigation indicates the 19-year-old man had consumed an illicit drug and was in possession of a number of pills. The pictured red/orange pills with a ‘$’ logo may be related and Police once again warn the public of the risks associated with taking any illicit substance.”
The statement also says that another man was sent to hospital, after he also allegedly took illicit drugs.
According to Yahoo 7, a witness accused Woodward’s friends of calling him “weak” while he stood in the first aid line. Woodward’s mother addressed this claim when she spoke to the The Advertiser.
“I want friends to look after each and make sure it’s never considered weak to ask for help. I want authorities to make sure kids are kept safe with free water. And I want young boys and girls like Stefan to never be too scared to ask for help,” she said.
Peking Duk, who were playing at the festival, have now joined the calls for drug testing. They posted a short message on their Facebook after Woodward’s death was confirmed.
This is a week after another performer Illy called for the same thing in a lengthy Facebook post.
Did we need another reminder of the consequences of the lack of drug testing at music festivals? It’s time we looked at the problem and ways we can solve it. What’s being done clearly isn’t working. Tragic events like this lead us to question, how many more people have to lose their life before we start seeing real change that fits in with this current world? The answer is already too high.