Wow! Seems like I've hit a bit of a nerve. Please excuse me if anyone feels I've been too sensational in my approach, It's only because I care and am very close to the situation. I will try to be much more objective, backing up my opinions with reliable sources of information.
Please bare in mind that in the last 10 days 1 person has lost their life, 2 people have been in a coma and 14 people have been hospitalised, all from attending WHP. Pro rata these numbers far outweigh any other festival or large club in the UK and people attend WHP from all over the country - Sacha Lord-Marchionne, managing director of WHP, even said himself in a recent press conference that this is "national issue".
Whilst I may be more emotionally affected by recent events, this is a serious problem that is professionally recognised on a national level. The Independent writes:
"More people are dying after taking amphetamines that at any time in the past five years, with a sharp rise in fatalities driven by the increased use of the ecstasy substitute PMA.
"Public Health England raised the alarm over the club drug earlier this month, calling evidence of PMA deaths “very concerning”. New figures from the Office for National Statistics figures showed a rise in PMA-related deaths from just one in 2011 to 20 in 2012.
"There was also a significant increase in the number of deaths from new psychoactive substances (NPS) – previously known as “legal highs”.
"The group of new drugs, including mephedrone, GHB and BZP, most of which were only recently made illegal, were involved in 52 deaths in 2012, up from 29 in 2011."
Martin Barnes, chief executive of the charity DrugScope said:
“The number of deaths involving PMA is, for example, concerning,” he said. “In all probability people would have believed they were taking ecstasy, but PMA is far more toxic while at the same time taking longer to take effect. This can make users believe that the pill isn’t working, encouraging them to increase the dose with sometimes fatal results.
He goes on to say, "No drug equals no risk, but back in the early 1990s when ecstasy was at the height of its popularity among young people on the club/rave scene, there was a body of public health knowledge that would have helped protect people and probably saved lives.
“Much of that knowledge, for example, not increasing dosage and not allowing the body to get over-heated is less known to many of the current generation of club and festival goers. We need to find ways of reminding young people about this type of information, not only in relation to ecstasy, but also to the many other new drugs now available.”
A report from ONS is the first to show the geographical spread of drug poisoning deaths. The North West had the highest mortality rate in England, with 41 deaths per million people.
UptheChimney: I don't think this situation is analogous to that of the introduction of Gin, and I hope with the evidence above you can see that, but I understand your point about moral panic. Do you understand mine regarding the social responsibility not loose control of environments which unofficially encourage potentially hazardous drug taking. It's no different from seeking to manage areas particularly associated with theft, violence or prostitution.
Flicktheswitch: I'm not on drugs, but thanks for asking, and no I don't think I'm targeting the source of the issue - I think the source of the issue is exceptionally difficult to target. But do I think I'm targeting something that can genuinely be changed, thus making a real difference, yes. WHP is a figured head for this kind of culture and statistically is in a much higher risk bracket than other such events. They can lead the way in tackling the problem from a certain angle, and a very effective angle at that. Is it really responsible of them to double their size and move into the centre of a city which house the largest student population in Europe, when they clearly need more time to get a hold of their current size and location.
garlicvampire: I obviously didn't articulate my last point very clearly because I was trying to utilise exactly the point you're making re MDMA. Indeed MDMA is comparably much less dangerous than other drugs, but it's exactly this logic that can get young people into trouble given the multitude of new and significantly more dangerous drugs out there as Martin Barnes of DrugScope references above.
SunshineSuperNova: I agree, and that's fantastic for them, indeed I was one of them back in my youth. However, i'd like to draw your attention to a quote from Chief Superintendent Mark Roberts in response to a lady who had be put into a coma by doctors this weekend after taking drugs at WHP:
“This once again highlights just what a lottery it is for your health if you choose to do drugs – you cannot know how your body will react to the chemicals you are ingesting, and more importantly, you simply do not know what chemicals are actually in the drugs you are taking.
Just because many go to raves, have a great time and come out the other side with nothing but smiles on their faces, doesn't mean it's ok to abandon those who fall prey to this lottery - which as we've read is an ever growing number.
UptheChimney: I hope you can see by the time and effort that's gone into my response that I'm far from a spammer. OK, my usage of the term "curate" was too idealogical and flowery, but surely you appreciate the idea that we as parents have the power and responsibility to positively affect the world we're in control of and the very world our children will inherit. I remember the Hacienda and "Madchester" and how it went from being fantastic to being very dangerous. The generation above us stepped in when it went wrong and solved the problem for the people most at risk, which wasn't them.
Panzee, ubik, UptheChimney: I politely remind you again that less than 10 days ago Nick Bonnie lost his life at WHP - I started this thread to take this matter seriously and try to do something about it. Please read this article which focuses on how Nick's parents have responded to their loss.
www.itv.com/news/2013-09-30/drugs-destroy-peoples-lives-say-charity-worker-nick-bonnies-parents/
Surely given where this thread is you can appreciate the sensitivity and severity of this situation. This is such a prevalent and poignant issue that even the Prime Minister has commented, "This is a tragic death. We've seen too many of these".
Ehhn: I completely appreciate your point, but hopefully you can see by the references in this post that the world of drugs is changing and its becoming much more difficult to apply scientific knowledge to safe practical use. Be that as it may, I do absolutely see the value of good education. Regarding your comment about the location being "irrelevant" I'm afraid I don't agree. It is well documented that there is much more concentrated drug taking at events like WHP and a much higher risk of illness due to contamination - this is mainly due to the heightened atmosphere, cited here by festivals expert George McKay, Professor of Cultural Studies at Salford University, who says festivals are rooted in a culture of “hedonistic partying” and the “subversion of the ordinary rules of life”. This is all the more prevalent at an event like WHP and all the more problematic when considering the effects of doubling its size in a move to Mayfield. Furthermore the greater propensity to take drugs by revellers induces a more robust cycle of supply and demand, hence the greater risk of contaminated drugs - WHP at Mayfield would create a boom for drug dealers and given that the chemical precursor for MDMA, safrole, is widely known to be in short supply, they turn to other substances to meet demand, substances like anethole, which makes the lethal drug PMA.
UptheChimney: I don't deny that the harm done by alcohol abuse outweighs that of drugs full stop never mind specifically concerning WHP, but that's not the problem I'm engaging with. The fact still remains that there is a growing problem, and more prevalent than in recent years, with club drug related illness and death. I can't imagine many would find it acceptable to say that it's OK for 5 people to die in a season of WHP at Mayfield just because there were many more who died from alcohol abuse across the region over the same period of time. Both are tragic. Both are a problem. Both need to be resolved. I have dedicated my self to doing what I can to help with one of those problems. Yes it's because I'm concerned for my son; no I don't have a personal grudge against anyone who works for WHP, I don't even know them. Many campaigns and cause are ignited by someone's personal relationship with them - I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
SunshineSuperNova: Again I appreciate the over zealous demonisation of drug dealers by calling them "devilish dealers", but I guess was riled up by this quote from Chief Superintendent Mark Roberts, “These unscrupulous dealers that sell drugs have no regard for people’s health and we need to work together to tackle this issue."
I hope I've gone some way to convince fellow mumnetters that I've clearly researched this matter extensively and am at the very least justified to bring my argument to forum.
Look forward to reading your responses…