Art Vs. Science player Daniel McNamee has written an impassioned, thoughtful and well-reasoned letter urging the Member for Ballina in Northern New South Wales, Don Page, to trial abolishing the presence of sniffer dogs at Splendour In The Grass this year, ascertain the degree to which drug related hospitalisations increases of decreases as a result, and plan procedures for future events accordingly.
McNamee, 30, argues that the consumption of illicit drugs such as MDMA at music festivals is common, inevitable, socially acceptable and deeply ingrained in Australian youth culture, saying that by removing sniffer dogs, punters will be less likely to suffer “panic-induced overdoses and “pre game” overdoses” to avoid detection, shame and the threat of a criminal record.
The crux of his argument, like many made before it, is that recreational drug use, especially at music festivals, should be treated as a health issue instead of a legal one, citing the “deaths of a young woman at the Perth Big Day Out 2009 and a young man at a festival called Defqon 1 in Sydney’s West last year,” as tragic instances in which young Australians lost their lives due to the atmosphere of fear created by sniffer dogs.
It’s a view shared by a lot of people, including scientists, doctors and a former Australia Federal Police chief.
It’s also a wasteful use of resources as was the case when police arrested 42 punters at Parklife in Melbourne in 2011, with only two of the apprehended interviewed on charges relating to drug trafficking. Besides being gloriously inefficient – sixty officers and two dogs were used – the most staggering part of that stat is that police apprehended just two drug traffickers out of a possible 17,000 festival attendees. Could it be that sniffer dogs are ineffective at catching drug traffickers? Surprisingly, yes. In fact, they’re terrible.
In 2006, an independent report conducted by the NSW Ombudsman criticised the use of sniffer dogs at music festivals saying they were terrible at catching drug traffickers and excellent at catching paranoid teens with joints in their pockets.
“Our review found that despite the best efforts of police officers, the use of drug detection dogs has proven to be an ineffective tool for detecting drug dealers,” they wrote. “Overwhelmingly, the use of drug detection dogs has led to public searches of individuals in which no drugs were found, or to the detection of (mostly young) adults in possession of very small amounts of cannabis for personal use.”
And yet police continue persisting with what is pretty much a PR exercise, ignoring the data on the subject and refusing to acknowledge that dispatching sniffer dogs never has – and never will – curb drug use.
When we interviewed former SMH journalist turned medical student Lisa Pryor, author of A Small Book About Drugs, she had this to say about sniffer dogs at music festivals: “I really wanted to go along with a sniffer dog team and see it from the police perspective, but they didn’t want to know about it. They just totally barred me. From what I’ve observed though, in the book I mention a police officer at a beach party who says “I don’t care if you’re off your head on pills. Have a good night, just stay off the bush regeneration area,” and the issue among police is quite similar to the issue among lawyers and that’s down to a massive generation gap. I imagine police officers under say 35 would be well aware of what’s going on and would maybe feel foolish or sheepish sometimes about what they have to do. But older people and the people in charge of them have a totally different perspective and might not understand how normal it is to take drugs like marijuana and ecstasy at a music festival.”
Read Dan’s letter in full below…
“Dear Mr Page,
My name is Daniel McNamee and I play in the music group “Art vs Science”. We’ve been lucky enough to play at Splendour in the Grass 4 times since 2008, and are playing again this year.
I’m sure you have witnessed the increase in illicit drug use in young people – I’m 30 and even in my lifetime I’ve seen the use of “ecstasy” (MDMA) in particular increase from a fringe activity practiced by underground party-goers to something widespread and done by accountants, lawyers, doctors, university students – people of all walks of life.
I think we can both agree that it is a dangerous activity, made all the more so by the manner in which it is produced, procured, and ingested. I have seen this first hand. People being led out of the festival to ambulances, eyes rolling in their heads. Concerned and panicking friends following and being told to try to relax. It’s a horrid sight. This tragedy is all the more tragic because these people are often inexperienced drug users who might wait all year to go to one or two music festivals and ingest these substances there.
I believe the you have the unique opportunity with the upcoming festival to help pass a bill which will trial measures that will, I’m certain, reduce dangerous drug taking practices which lead to these horrible situations.
I urge you to consider a trial whereby the common practice of police officers using drug detection dogs is suspended at this year’s festival, and to compare the amount of hospitalisations that occur.
Please let evidence inform this policy. Automatically you will cut out the number of hospitalisations due to people panicking upon sight of the dogs and ingesting their whole weekend’s supply of drugs. This actually led to the deaths of a young woman at the Perth Big Day Out 2009 and a young man at a festival called Defqon 1 in Sydney’s West last year.
A police presence which focusses on stopping truly anti social behaviour – violence and aggression is all that is needed. People who are allowed to ingest drugs without the fear of a lifetime criminal record will have a new fear: the drug itself. Drug taking is dangerous. The correct dosage, setting, and friend support is vital. Let this be the only thing that people are worried about.
There is a common sentiment in NSW public life that allowing drug taking at festivals would be “an admission of defeat”. It does not have to be this way. We need only look at the data, and take advice from good sources like the 2006 NSW Ombudsman’s Report (attached) and the Australia21 reports on the issue (also attached, should you wish to research the matter further). I personally think it would be wonderful if we enjoyed music and socialised without drugs – alcohol included – but we cannot change people’s minds about drugs through fear alone. The record shows. It doesn’t work. But it does make the setting so much more dangerous for our children.
Best regards,
Dan McNamee”
Splendour In The Grass, headlined this year by Outkast, takes place from July 25th – July 27th at North Byron Parklands, Byron Bay.
