Man Dies Of Suspected Drug Overdose At Sydney Music Festival

A man has died of a suspected drug overdose at Sydney's Transmission Festival over the weekend. 

Six others were charged with drug supply after the festival.

The 26-year-old-man attended the festival held at the Sydney Showgrounds and was then taken to Bankstown Hospital at 1:30am on Sunday. He passed away at 3am. 

More than 12 other patrons were taken to hospital relating to drug use.

In a statement, NSW Police said, “More than 130 people were treated by medical professionals at the venue, with numerous complaints suspected to relate to drug use and heat exhaustion."

Six men were also charged with drug supply offences with one 23-year-old man found in possession of 253 MDMA pills. Another 21-year-old was found with 149 MDMA pills. 

The event hosted 18,000 people and was deemed "high risk" by police. It was headlined by Armin Van Buuren and also featured DJs including Vini Vici, Gareth Emery, Jeffrey Sutorius and more.

In May of last year, the National Drug And Alcohol Research Centre released a report that suggests that one in three young people who attended large music festivals reported that a reason they would not seek help in a drug health emergency is fear of getting in trouble by the police.

Co-author of the study and drug and alcohol specialist Dr Jonathan Brett commented, “We need to rethink the black-and-white policy of ‘say no to drugs’.

“They are hypothetical situations ... but the power of the study is they were reporting it at the event, so they were in that frame of mind.

“Reform doesn’t have to be about pill testing, but it should focus on a harm-reduction approach rather than a punitive one."