Pubdate: Tue, 11 Aug 2015
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Michael Platt
Page: 7

NOT A RAVE REVIEW

Electronic music fest draws ire of deputy mayor over drug problems

They could be facing a bad trip of their own - one that orders a
drug-tainted music festival straight out of the city.

The festival, billed as the largest electronic music gathering in
Western Canada, is called Chasing Summer, and after two consecutive
years featuring multiple drug overdoses, talk about chasing the
controversial concert out of Calgary has predictably started.

"We're a festival city, with multiple music festivals, and I don't
recall these kind of problems happening anywhere else," said Coun.
Diane Colley-Urquhart, deputy mayor of Calgary while Mayor Naheed
Nenshi is away for the month.

"We have to decide as a city, do we want to provide a venue for this
kind of thing to occur - and right now, my thinking is that if you're
a private promoter wanting to hold this kind of event, go find a
private place to do it.

"I don't want our city associated with this kind of
crap."

It's exactly the kind of reaction Chasing Summer's promoters must have
known was coming, after watching the 17th ambulance leave the Fort
Calgary concert site with yet another sick young person twitching away
inside.

Ranging in age from 18 to their mid-30s, this year's typical drug
casualty had mixed alcohol with some other narcotic, usually MDMA/
ecstasy, but with reports of cocaine, GHB, ketamine and marijuana
coming from the festival's medical tent.

One victim, a woman in her 30s, remains in serious, potentially
life-threatening condition due to severe breathing problems.

Last year, Chasing Summer ended with EMS reporting 10 serious
overdoses, also due to booze, drugs or both - and back then, the
festival's promoter said there wasn't much they could do to stop it.

"You can't be a chaperone for 14,000 people," said Dave Johnston,
creative director with Union Events, the company behind the show.

This year, Johnston issued a press release repeating Union Events'
commitment to safety and keeping festival goers hydrated -
hyperthermia, or overheating being a major cause of health emergencies
linked to ecstasy.

"Festival producers at Union Events would like to express our support
for all of our patrons and wish those few who needed further attention
a quick and full recovery," it reads.

But excuses and well wishes aren't enough, if Chasing Summer expects
to keep using city property for its 15,000-strong music party.

With the jaundiced eye of city council upon them, this event needs to
sort itself out, and quickly.

No, you can't completely chaperone chemical narcotics out of rave
culture, anymore than you can keep weed out of a folk festival - but
what you can do is provide harm reduction strategies to minimize the
damage when stupid decisions are being made.

At B.C.'s Shambhala electronic music festival, 40 overdoses and one
death in 2012 resulted in a revamp of the drug strategy, with
education, drug purity testing and ample cool water and quiet shade
provided for 10,000 fans, who also have access to 160 onsite medical
professionals.

The result has been a sharp reduction in hospital trips, and it's a
model that's increasingly being adopted by music festivals across
North America.

Some of it obviously won't fly in conservative Calgary - drug purity
testing for one - but with numerous online reports about long lines
for water at Fort Calgary and a lack of calm, shaded shelter for those
losing their cool, there's room for improvement.

Union Events manages plenty of other Canadian concerts without a major
hiccup - Calgary's X-Fest for one - so whatever it is that makes
Chasing Summer the exception to the rule must be dealt with, somehow.

"These are 17 separate 911 calls, requiring 17 separate ambulances,"
said Calgary EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux, and when one festival's
drug problem is causing that much stress on a public health care
system, something has to change.

Whether its discouraging rampant drug use in a city park or finding a
way to stop calling 911 to Fort Calgary almost every hour, Chasing
Summer is chasing a new goal: responsibility.
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MAP posted-by: Matt