EDMbiz is underway and the first panel kicked off with “Drugs in Dance Music: It’s Time to Talk” featuring speakers Dr. Dale Carrison, Dr. Adam Lund (Founder, UBC Mass Gathering Medicine Interest Group), Mark Lawrence (Chief Executive, AFEM), Maren Steiner (Director of Health & Safety, Insomniac), and B-Traits (musician).
The panel began with a clear goal, changing the stigma of drug use in dance music culture to promote safety and encourage the seeking of medical attention for those who need it.
Let us clarify, the panel was not promoting or encouraging drug use, instead, they’ve taken a stance of harm reduction in order to keep festival attendees safe.
With the negative connotation of drug use in our culture, some individuals who may require medical attention are reluctant to do so because of the potential ramifications of such actions.
This must change.
If someone is injured or worse, and it was a preventable occurrence, then we as a society need to make changes in order to ensure that tragedies like this can be avoided. This was the focus of the “Drugs in Dance Music: It’s Time to Talk” panel.
To paraphrase Dr. Adam Lund, although we may celebrate people in extreme physical events like marathons who may vomit at the end of the event or someone who does the Ironman and pees blood at the end, the connotations with with drug use are different.
With the stigma of drugs and alcohol in dance music, it leads to people being ashamed of seeking medical attention when they may need it; it needs to change. Dr. Dale Carrison reinforced the stance by stating, “You can come to our medical facility in there, and there is no stigma attached to it. Come on in and we will do everything we can to help you.”
Maren Steiner of Insomniac goes on to say that if you have a problem at Electric Daisy Carnival, you will receive medical attention within 2-3 minutes. Nowhere else in the United States is that possible.
Also, you don’t need an insurance card and there will be no bill when you leave EDC, just know that you will be taken care of.
The on-staff physicians at EDC are all there for one thing – to make sure that everyone is medically safe and can have fun in a healthy environment.
This doesn’t pertain to only those with drug related problems. With an ambient temperature of 87 degrees at night, even without drugs and alcohol, there will be physiological consequences while dancing the nights away at EDC Las Vegas – and anyone who needs medical attention will receive it.
The moral is: don’t be discouraged if you think that you or a friend needs medical attention.
EDC Las Vegas and Insomniac hold your safety in the highest regard, and they’ve done everything in their power to ensure that you are just that – safe.
Interesting. In 2012 my girlfriend was slipped something in a drink and when she started to feel ill we went to the tent and were turned away. That’s left a very sour taste in my mouth about insomniac events.