“At a Festival, Molly Danced But Didn’t Cut In”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/arts/music/at-a-festival-molly-danced-but-didnt-cut-in.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1380590487-8Keso/JlP20t6heRbXPUnQ

Drug related deaths have been prevalent lately, and with all of the hype surrounding ecstasy, many events have upped the security in when large amounts of people are expected to attend. TomorrowWorld, the American version of the Belgian music festival, TomorrowLand, took place in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. Molly, the colloquial term for MDMA, is a dangerous psychoactive drug that is known for the effects of empathy it evokes among its users. While many of the festival-goers attend solely for the musical performances, some claim that drugs enhance these performances. Although the organizers advertised a zero-tolerance policy toward drugs, some of the festival-goers estimated that half of those in attendance were using MDMA. While some of the attendees claim that ecstasy is harmless if used correctly, others feel that use of drugs in music festivals tarnishes the reputation of its true spirit—music!

In my opinion, there’s only so much that the organizers can do to prevent drugs from entering their events. It seems as though those in charge of TomorrowWorld really tried to secure the location, but the festivalgoers were adamant in using ecstasy. Unfortunately, ecstasy is really dangerous, and has been known to cause death in certain circumstances. Users take it knowing the risk. I don’t see events like this ever becoming completely drug free, but I don’t think that they enhance the nature of the performances.