Tragic summer toll of lives cut short
SHAKIRA Pellow is the latest young victim in a summer of tragedy from drug-taking.
Hannah Bragg, 15, died after being found near an old viaduct in Tavistock, Devon, a week ago after swallowing what is thought to have been MDMA or ecstasy.
In May, the Mutiny festival in Portsmouth was cancelled following the deaths of Georgia Jones, 18, and Tommy Cowan, 20.
They were among 15 people at the festival taken to hospital. Festival organisers said they were aware of “dangerous high strength or bad batch” drugs on site.
Later in May, Manchester’s Parklife festival, headlined by Liam Gallagher and indie band The xx, warned of potentially lethal ecstasy pills following the Mutiny deaths.
They tweeted a picture of a blue, triangular pill known as the Punisher, described as having “strength over 330mg” which “can result in death”. Drug awareness charity The Loop said this is three to four times the amount found in a typical ecstasy pill.
The charity offers Britain’s sole drug testing service at festivals.
Staffed by volunteers, it has piloted the service over the last two years and will be at 10 British festivals this year.
Director Fiona Measham called for more festivals to introduce testing.
She said: “We have strong police support – we couldn’t and wouldn’t operate without that – and we are calling on the Government, Public Health England, local authorities and events across the country to support us in rolling out drug testing facilities further.”
Chemists test recreational substances submitted by users and healthcare professionals then discuss the results on a one-to-one basis, while stressing they do not condone drug use.