People use drugs at music festivals for various reasons, including the desire to stay awake for the headliners performing late at night or even into the following morning or afternoon.
The results of this year’s Drug Safety at Music Festival Study, conducted by research firm Innerbody, show that 84 percent of 2024 festival attendees plan on using drugs on festival grounds, reflecting a 10 percent increase from last year’s survey.
The poll also considered specific festivals and gatherings, with Wisconsin’s Rock Fest ranking as the top festival for drug use. While not a music festival, the desert gathering Burning Man landed in the second slot, with Coachella, Rolling Loud, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza all proving popular destinations for drug usage.
Popular Festival Drugs of 2024
A variety of stimulants are popular among festival-goers. These drugs span from caffeine to methamphetamine, with a multitude of substances in between. Some individuals opt for pharmaceutical drugs like Adderall, while others choose Speed or MDMA, which are sometimes mixed with Methamphetamine or bath salts. Cocaine is also a popular choice, allowing many to continue drinking without succumbing to exhaustion.
According to the data, 65 percent of festival-goers plan to enhance their experience with some form of marijuana, followed by cocaine, psychedelics, MDMA, and Ketamine.
What You Should Be Aware Of?
As the days go on, people take more drugs because they’re tired and have built up a tolerance. Additionally, many begin buying drugs on-site toward the end of events, which are more likely to have adulterants.
Even drugs tested as “safe” can interact with your body in unexpected ways, leading to serious consequences.
What Can Go Wrong?
Attending a festival for multiple days in a row can become extremely exhausting and even dangerous if you’re partying too hard or neglecting essential needs like sleep, nutrition, and hydration.
Being awake for extended periods on stimulants can have an adverse effect on your mind. Typically, paranoia sets in after you’ve been awake for 48 hours or more, but it can occur sooner, especially with large amounts of stimulants.
Under any condition, drug abuse can lead to heart problems, heat stroke, and anxiety.
According to the Innerbody research, over half of the attendees reported experiencing health-related issues that required medical attention while under the influence of drugs.
Common Issues Requiring Medical Attention
- Heat Stroke
- Bad Trip.
- Dehydration
- Overdose
Heat Stroke and Dehydration at Festivals
Drugs can increase body temperature, and the added factors of dancing, being outdoors and possibly being dehydrated heighten the risk.
Consuming substances like cocaine or MDMA at a hot, humid music event significantly raises the risk of life-threatening hyperthermia.
Signs of drug-related hyperthermia include feeling uncomfortably hot, nausea and vomiting, excessive thirst, confusion, agitation, muscle spasms, seizures, or losing consciousness. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately.
Bad Trip at Festivals
Even if you’re an experienced drug user, the chances of having a bad trip at a music festival this summer are high. A bad trip is a negative experience while high on psychedelics like LSD, Mushrooms, or Ketamine.
Festivals can create a perfect storm for mental health crises.
Some attendees come to festivals already dealing with difficult personal issues. If it’s your first time using psychedelics and you combine that with sleep deprivation, hunger, and dehydration, it makes for a potentially deadly combination, especially for those already struggling. Many are unprepared to handle severe drug reactions, which are usually short-lived.
The Zendo Project—a harm reduction organization founded in 2012 under the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)—provides on-site psychedelic safe spaces at music festivals. These spaces are staffed with trained “sitters” ready to help you through a difficult experience.
So far, the organization has assisted over 2,000 guests at festivals like Burning Man, Lightning in a Bottle, Boom, and Symbiosis, while training over 2,000 volunteers to provide what they call “psychedelic first aid.”
Drug Overdose at Festivals
Drugs and alcohol are staples at music festivals, and many attendees often overindulge. Combined with the alarming presence of fentanyl in the drug supply in recent years, the risk has become deadly.
Just a couple of grains of fentanyl—resembling grains of salt or sand—can be lethal.
Fentanyl is a white powder, completely odorless and flavorless, making it easy to mix into substances like pills, MDMA, or cocaine, which are also white powders.
This Must Be The Place, an Ohio-based nonprofit, distributes free naloxone at music festivals and concerts across the country, including Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party and Day In Day Out.
In 2023 alone, they have distributed 16,755 doses of Narcan, the nasal spray version of the lifesaving opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone.
Festivals see a 10% to 25% reduction in drug-related harm when the volunteer-run drug testing facility operates onsite.
Drug Testing Sites at Festivals
Drug testing, also known as pill checking, is a harm reduction strategy that allows festival-goers to check the content and purity of illicit drugs. This practice has become more common at music festivals, with more organizers providing booths for drug checking as a harm reduction strategy. At the Electric Forest Festival, The Bunk Police provided drug testing kits to attendees.
However, not everyone utilizes this resource due to the fear of getting in trouble.
Even if your drug stash is free from fentanyl and benzodiazepines, you can never predict how your body will react.
People tend to experiment with drugs more at music festivals, including trying administering methods like boofing, which can cause an overdose.
How Do You Stay Safe While Choosing to Use Drugs at a Festival?
Aside from staying sober, testing your drugs before using them is one of the smartest things you can do. Educate yourself about the risks and potential side effects of the drugs you plan to use.
7 Safety Tips for Festival Goers
- Understand Appearance Can Be Deceiving: Even if a drug looks the same as something you’ve taken before, it doesn’t mean it is the same.
- Verify Substance Identity: Drugs may not be what they have been previously taken or sold to you as.
- Dosage Awareness: When considering taking MDMA pills, remember that one pill is not necessarily one dose.
- Acknowledge Risks of ‘Pure’ Drugs: Even ‘pure’ drugs can produce serious side effects and death.
- Stay Informed: Information is crucial during the festival season because the drug market constantly changes. Testing helps keep people updated.
- Practice Harm Reduction: Be aware of your surroundings, remain close to friends, stay hydrated, and familiarize yourself with the location of medical tents.
- Avoid Dangerous Mixes: If you’re going to use stimulants like cocaine or MDMA, do not mix them with alcohol.
First-Time Users Are at Greater Risk
First-time users and younger people are among the most vulnerable at festivals. Often unwilling or unable to take the risk of bringing their own drugs, they are more likely to buy a mystery pill or a powdered drug from someone on the festival grounds.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division reports that Eutylone is being falsely marketed by drug dealers as MDMA (“Ecstasy” or “Molly”) and has been distributed under the street names “Red Bull” and “Blue Playboy,” among others.
Emerging Substances of Concern
Nitazenes: Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that have re-emerged in the drug supply. These substances are potentially more powerful than fentanyl and pose significant overdose risks due to their ability to slow breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Tianeptine : Tianeptine also know as Zaza drug, an antidepressant not approved for use in the United States, has been reported to have opioid-like effects at high doses. It can cause dangerous drops in blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate, and has been associated with substance use disorders.
New Psychoactive Substances (NPS): New psychoactive substances are lab-made compounds designed to circumvent existing drug laws. These include synthetic opioids like Nitazenes, cannabinoids, cathinones, and designer benzodiazepines such as Etizolam and Bromazolam. They often resemble “traditional” drugs, frequently appearing as fine white powders, allowing them to be intentionally mis-sold to unsuspecting customers.
HHC (Hexahydrocannabinol): HHC is a newly emerged cannabinoid that has raised health concerns due to limited information on its effects. It is part of the broader category of synthetic cannabinoids gaining traction at festivals.
Adulterants in Common Drugs
Recent studies have detected various adulterants in commonly used drugs at festivals. These include substances like MDEA, mephedrone, methylone, 3-MMC, alpha-D2PV, etizolam, eutylone, nitazenes and N,N-dimethylpentylone. Some of these, such as eutylone and N,N-dimethylpentylone, have been linked to fatalities.
However, they are not the only ones. Your MDMA or ecstasy pills might be adulterated with:
- Amphetamine
- Dextromethorphan(DMX)
- Ketamine
- Caffeine
- Eutylone
- Para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA)
- Para-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA)
- Etizolam
- Methamphetamine
- Bath salts
Your cocaine batch might look pure and make your nose numb, but it could actually contain:
Remember the Risks of 2C-B
2C-B, also known as pink cocaine, has become very popular among festival-goers. However, it is not cocaine but a mix of leftover drugs, including Meth, Oxycodone, even Fentanyl, and some pink coloring.
Whether drug abuse is occurring at a music festival or in daily life, addiction can sneak up silently. It’s crucial to understand that help is available.
Learn about Still Detox luxury rehab facilities in Boca Raton, Florida. For co-occurring drug and behavioral disorders, our addiction counselors are ready to discuss your concerns. Call our drug hotline at (561) 556-2677 for confidential, professional, and free support.
