Twenty-year-old man from Victoria had been flown to hospital on Saturday in a critical condition

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A 20-year-old Victorian man has died in hospital days after suffering a suspected drug overdose at the Beyond The Valley festival.

The man, from Mansfield in regional Victoria, died on Tuesday morning after being flown to hospital on Saturday in a critical condition from the festival in Lardner, east of Melbourne.

The circumstances surrounding his death are yet to be determined but it is not being treated as suspicious and police will prepare a report for the coroner.

Another man, aged in his 20s, at the same festival, was also airlifted to hospital after suffering a drug overdose and has since been discharged.

Pill testing could save lives – so why are we letting people die? | Matt Noffs and Shelley Smith Read more

Both the Victorian and NSW governments continue to oppose calls for pill-testing at festivals, but in NSW the Labor opposition has opened the door to supporting trials of the measure should it win this year’s state election.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, repeated last month her government would not endorse anything that normalised illegal drug taking.

“If we thought it would save a single life, of course we would go down that path,” she said. “Unfortunately, what pill testing doesn’t do is really take into account people’s different physical attributes. What is safe for one person isn’t safe for another.”

The first pill-testing trial in Australia, at the Groovin the Moo festival in Canberra in April, uncovered two potentially deadly samples and found that half the drugs tested contained no psychoactive substances.

On Sunday organisers of the multi-site Falls Festival warned ticket holders of a “dangerous orange pill” in circulation, following the suspected drug death of a 22-year-old man on the NSW central coast.

Joshua Tam, 22, died at Gosford hospital after taking an unknown substance and becoming ill at the Lost Paradise festival at Glenworth Valley.

Another man and woman were taken to hospital after taking an unknown substance and becoming ill at the same festival.

Last month Callum Brosnan, 19, died and three others were taken to hospital after suspected drug reactions at the Knockout Games of Destiny dance party at Sydney Olympic Park.

In September Joseph Pham, 23, and Diana Nguyen, 21, died after taking unknown substances at the Defqon.1 event in Sydney.

Police have warned revellers to steer clear of drugs in the lead up to Field Day in the Domain in Sydney on New Year’s Day.

“There is a clear association with illicit drug use at those festivals and the worst outcomes are being seen at times,” acting deputy commissioner Mark Walton told reporters.





