Electric Zoo to Tighten Safety Measures After Last Year’s Drug Deaths

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 24, 2014 under Addiction Trends, Synthetic Drugs | Comments are off for this article

Festival promoters Mike Bindra and Laura DePalma have announced the introduction of new robust safety measures planned for this year’s Electric Zoo festival on Randall’s Island in New York.

After two drug-related deaths at the festival last year, the organizers are reportedly cracking down this year with drug-sniffing dogs, thorough pat-downs and undercover security officers with backgrounds in narcotics investigations.

Assuming that city officials from the Department of Parks and Recreation will grant a site permit and the five-year-old festival will go on as planned this Labor Day weekend. For the first time, festival goers will be required to watch an anti-drug public-service announcement online, delivered by electronic music stars, before their wristbands can be activated to gain admittance to the event.

Event organizers are also cutting the length of each of the three days by several hours to reduce attendee’s exposure to the sun, hopefully minimizing the risks of dehydration and overheating. Electric Zoo organizers are also considering offering “amnesty bins” at the entrance gates, where fans could anonymously discard illicit substances and avoid penalty. Amnesty bins have been used for years in Europe and were offered at last summer’s inaugural TomorrowWorld festival outside Atlanta, which attracted more than 50,000 attendees.

Promoters report that safety measures cost about $428,081 last year. The safety package included on-site emergency centers, free bottled water and announcements between DJ sets instructing fans to stay safe and hydrated and to seek medical attention if needed. This year, the cost of the safety efforts is set to cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars more than last year’s package.

Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren joined the organizer’s advisory board to lend his support after his Electric Zoo performance was canceled last year after the deaths. “If they prohibit Electric Zoo, you’ll have more underground raves,” which can be far more dangerous, he said.