Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jul 2015
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Thandi Fletcher
Page: 7

BEWARE OF DRUGS AND HEAT: CORONER

The BC Coroners Service is warning against the dangers of party drugs
and extreme heat as summer music festival season gets underway.

With the Bass Coast electronic music festival this weekend in Merritt,
followed by the Pemberton Music Festival next weekend, coroner Barb
McLintock urged concertgoers to practice safe drug
consumption.

"You have to understand that drug dealers are not good people to
trust," she said. "Even if you think you know what you're taking, they
might be wrong; you might be wrong."

With many music festivals being held in open fields where there is
little shade available to escape the scorching temperatures, McLintock
said concertgoers also need to be aware of the signs of sunstroke and
heatstroke.

The warning comes following the death of University of B.C. student
Vivek Pandher, who fell ill at a music festival at the George
Amphitheatre.

Pandher, 22, was found unresponsive at the festival and died Sunday at
Vancouver General Hospital.

A cause of death has not yet been determined, but McLintock said
coroners are looking at heat, hyperthermia and other factors like drugs.

Deaths and overdoses are becoming an increasingly common occurrence at
music festivals.

At last summer's Boonstock Music Festival, 90 concertgoers had to be
hospitalized and one person died from a suspected overdose.

Nick Phongsavath, 21, of Regina was found dead at the Pemberton Music
Festival last July.
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MAP posted-by: Matt