More calls for pill-testing as 19-year-old woman dies at FOMO

Calls for pill-testing and government action intensified as another festival patron died on the weekend.

19-year old Alex Ross-King from the NSW Central Coast died in hospital from a suspected drug overdose, after being moved from Parramatta Park about 6 pm.

She was attending the Sydney stop of the four-city FOMO on Saturday along with 11,387 others.

Police searched 146 patrons and said 54 were found with drugs. 36 were arrested, including a 19-year old male who escaped but later apprehended in the Parramatta River.

Ross-King’s family has urged NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to show “strong leadership” and introduce pill testing.

A rally calling for pill testing in NSW will be staged in front of the Sydney Town Hall on January 19.

Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drugs Agencies chief executive officer Rebecca Lang has said, “There really is (sufficient evidence to support a trial” in the state.

Gino Vumbaca of STA-SAFE consortium, which ran Australia’s first official pill testing lab at Groovin’ The Moo last April, says it has been approached by ten promoters after the two most recent deaths over the Christmas break, at Beyond the Valley in Victoria and Lost Paradise in NSW

STA-SAFE is rebranding to Pill Testing Australia and has filed an application to test again at Groovin The Moo in Canberra this year.

The newly formed Australian Festivals Association recently called for state and the federal authorities to convene roundtables to discuss the problem with the music industry.

In the wake of inaction by authorities, reports in Queensland suggest a spike in DIY pill-testing kits in that state.

At the same time, the Newcastle University Students’ Association is reintroducing free pill testing kits, following a move last spring by Melbourne University Students’ Association.

Concern is rising as Ross-King’s death marks the sixth reported suspected drug death since September.

Joseph Phan, 23, and Diana Nguyen, 21, died at Defqon. 1. in Sydney on September 15.

19-year-old Callum Brosnan was found in a “distressed state” after the Knockout Games of Destiny in Sydney in early December.

Callum Edwards, 20, and Josh Tam, 22, died respectively at Beyond The Valley and Lost Paradise, which both began on December 29.

However reports now suggest that Edwards’ death was due to a snakebite. A toxicology report found tiger snake venom in his system.