Sleaze Ball sees seven overdoses

Sleaze Ball sees seven overdoses

Saturday night’s Sleaze Ball was a relatively incident-free event despite seven ambulance calls, organisers claim.

New Mardi Gras co-chair Michael Woodhouse told Sydney Star Observer seven people were taken to hospital, some with symptoms of GHB overdose, and 140 others were attended to by the on-site medical team. Not all of the 140 incidents related to drug use.

Despite our concerns about people using G, we didn’t get more people having problems than at past parties, Woodhouse said.

People were much more aware of the issues, and that really was the best we could hope for.

ACON president Adrian Lovney said harm minimisation messages about the use of GHB could have helped keep the number of overdoses down.

We hope that the small number of people who needed assistance on the night is an indication that the community has taken these messages on board, Lovney said.

Another partygoer contacted the Star after being punched in the head by a group of men in the Hordern at about 5am. The man said he told security guards about the incident, but no action was taken.

Meantime, five people were taken to hospital after taking GHB during Sunday night’s Queer Nation party at Home nightclub.

Queer Nation promoter Emma Smyth said the venue was equipped for medical emergencies and had an on-site ambulance at every Queer Nation party. Smyth also said Home nightclub maintained a zero tolerance policy on drugs, and all people found possessing or dealing drugs were handed over to the police.

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