The Electric Daisy Carnival is coming to Las Vegas this June! Photo credit: ElectricDaisyCarnival.com
Promoters of the popular Electric Daisy Festival couldn’t reach an agreement with the city of Los Angeles, so the massive electronic festival is being transferred to Las Vegas.
185,000 people attended EDC in 2010, but the festival’s success was overshadowed by the death of a 15 year old teenager. Ecstasy (of course) was found in her system. A moratorium on raves at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was enacted shortly thereafter. Even though the ban was lifted late last year, Insomniac Events is still pulling up stakes from LA.
ECD is still scheduled for June 24-25, 2011. There will also be an Electric Daisy Carnival in Dallas, Denver, and Puerto Rico. There’s no info yet on venues, lineups, or tickets on the official site.
Did Los Angeles overreact with their rave ban? Have you ever been to a rave where you couldn’t find drugs? Comment below.
This is a really tricky article. It appears on a site for “festival junkies”, presumably in support of mass gatherings focused on music.
Anyone who has been to a festival (or rave) knows that when you take many thousands of people and put them together with the intention of ingesting mind-altering substances, you’re rolling the dice. One death in 185,000 is hardly enough to overshadow an entire event. One death in 15,000 will fade in the memories of attendees just one year later.
Ecstasy (of course) is blamed for her death, but be careful with your wording: Ecstasy was simply found in her system, not NECESSARILY serving as the cause of death. Furthermore, you do not state what other drugs, if any, were present; cocktails can be VERY dangerous. More likely than not, she didn’t drink enough water, or ingested a chemical falsely purported to be “ecstasy”, or a combination of factors. One in 185,000 is pretty good, when you consider the possibilities.
Assuming she died of an unexpected overdose, it probably wasnt MDMA, or “ecstasy”, that was the culprit. This presents strong evidence for the regulation of recreationally used chemicals. At an event like this you have no way of telling what is in the pills you are taking. Even if you have access to a Dancesafe reagent test, those only test for the presence of MDMA, not adulterants. Oftentimes bad pills will contain trace amounts of MDMA, leading to positive test results and false confidence. Smaller amounts means the attendee takes more in hopes of the desired effect, exposing themselves to a greater quantity of the unknown chemicals.
Remember that before the media hype took off, MDMA was FULLY LEGAL. As it began to skyrocket in popularity, the FDA demanded emergency scheduling under pressure from big pharma, because they weren’t in on the action. History shows that the reports released about the neurotoxicity of MDMA are FALSE, and were intended to spark controversy and demonize what can otherwise be a safe and prolific experience. Although it was illegalized, demand never fell, and a black market was created for these pills, free from any regulation. This has led to lower quality pills as manufacturers try to squeeze more money out of a batch of source chemicals. Adulterants left and right make up for the lack of available MDMA, which is now so regulated (DEA Schedule 1) that it becomes harder and harder to come by.
KNOW YOUR SOURCE. KNOW YOUR SUBSTANCE. KNOW YOURSELF.
…and no, I’ve never been to a large event where I couldn’t find drugs, supply will always meet demand, which is widespread. A greater understanding of these workings is essential for anyone involved in the production, promotion, or attendance of music festivals and raves, especially if you’re going to report on them.
This is excellent advice from Donny regarding rec drugs and festivals. I was surprised to hear that before this incident that Insomniac Events weren’t 18+. They have since implemented an age requirement. I also agree with Donny that 1 death in 185,000 usually wouldn’t overshadow an event, but in this particular case it led to some major policy changes from Insomniac (the age change) and the venue having to be moved which is why we reported on it.
Why ban they didnt sell the pill its the kid’s fault for taking the pill