https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/field-day-at-the-domain-where-even-dr...Smuggling four caps filled with powerful party drug MDMA into the event, the woman was more than ready to cut loose.
“You want the high and the charge — it’s a long day,” she said.
Welcome to Sydney’s Field Day — where nothing is seemingly off limits.
The woman who spoke to The Daily Telegraph said she used two condoms to hide the drugs inside her body before passing sniffer dogs and police into the one-day festival attended by 28,000 people in The Domain yesterday.
And she was one of thousands there for one main reason — to take drugs.
Just days after Joshua Tam became the fourth person in as many months to die of a suspected drug overdose at a music event in NSW, it quickly became clear that the fatalities have not deterred many from dicing with death.
Inside the venue, people openly asked their friends for cocaine as others reminded mates to drink plenty of water as their ecstasy rush kicked in.
Revellers, some dressed in outrageously revealing clothing, began filtering into The Domain after midday.
The smell of cannabis soon spread among the dance floors by 2pm and people could be seen taking MDMA.
“There are so many people on so much different stuff,” one young man in a pink T-shirt said. “Do you have cocaine?” his friend asked.
Another drug-addled man drawled: “I love you”, as he walked past.
There was a heavy police presence outside but inside the venue everyone seemed free to do what they wanted.
Police officers walked around — posing for photos and selfies — but no sniffer dogs could be seen during the seven hours the Telegraph was inside.
Police inside the venue admitted they had seen people under the influence.
As huge crowds descended on the Centre Field stage to catch headline acts including British DJ Duke Dumont and US rapper Cardi B later in the day, a smaller number of festival-goers surrounded “Left Field” to immerse themselves in the dance music.
“I feel so good,” one woman said as she rejoined her friends beside the dance floor. “I’ve never been so happy in my life … we need water,” another said
It’s a bit of everything, there’s acid, you see some coke and mostly it’s just (MDMA) caps,” he said. “It’s pretty low-key, it’s usually in the mosh under cover.”
But as another person lost their life to drugs on New Year’s Day at the Beyond the Valley festival in Victoria, the woman who boasted of smuggling in MDMA said she wasn’t fazed.
“It doesn’t really deter me, deterrence doesn’t work, you only have to look at prohibition — where there’s a will there’s a way,” she said.
She said MDMA was rampant at Field Days.
Commonly known as ecstasy, it is taken either in pill form or crystal form in capsules.
“If you go into the female bathrooms you see all the condoms (on the floor) and think ‘holy s …, everybody is on it’,” she said. “People are usually quite subtle, they’ll go into the bathrooms — you can hear people snorting.”
She said that the large police presence outside the The Domain had not scared her off sneaking the party drugs in — and her friends were even more brazen.
“It’s actually not that detectable — dogs aren’t that reliable,” she said.
“I smuggle them in, I put them inside me because I’m neurotic — you wrap them up and have two condoms.
“But I have friends who just put them in their pockets and walk in. It’s inherently overwhelming for the dogs, because if you think about it, there’s tens of thousands of people flocking to the event. A lot of (drug seizures) come when dogs get gestured to go towards people by police.”
Although she got in unscathed, others did not. By 10pm police had stopped 150 people for drug offences.
One woman in her 20s told The Telegraph late last night that she had swallowed MDMA caps at 9.30pm and did not feel nervous taking them because there was “not much police” compared with previous Field Day events.
She said Josh Tam’s death had not deterred her from taking drugs: “Not really, personally where I get my stuff from it’s from people I trust.”
She said she saw one young woman being carried away by medical crews at 4.30pm.
“Her body was limp,” she said.
PREMIER STANDS FIRM ON PILL TESTING
Police confirmed on Tuesday night that four people were taken to hospital from the Field Day event - one with a suspected back injury.
Despite police warning revellers in the lead up to the New Year’s Day festival to steer clear of drugs, some festival-goers didn’t seem to care.
“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 said.
But inside, people at the festival’s medical centre continued to dance as they waited for their friends to be treated by medics.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated on Tuesday she would not change her view in relation to pill testing at music festivals.
the pleasures of having a good time 2019 style..