23 June, 2015. 11:06
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
VICTORIAN POLICE HAVE warned partygoers that drugs will run their lives, but only if they catch them with drugs on their person.
As the city gears up for the annual blues festival, Melbourne revellers have been put on notice by police to behave and not to do drugs.
“We’ve given drug users plenty of warning,” said Victorian police chief inspector Brett Larson.
“Drugs have the potential to destroy the lives of users. We will make sure of that,”
“Just a reminder for out-of-towners – you will be charged with a criminal offence if we catch you with drugs.”
Being charged for a drug related offence can have catastrophic consequences for young people.
If a person has been criminally convicted over drugs, they’d immediately be ineligible to visit a number of overseas destinations, let alone work at one.
Studies have also found that employers are up to a hundred times less likely to employ a person with a drug-related charge on their record.
For example, you would be ineligible to visit the US as a tourist or work in the UK if you are found to be carrying over three grams of weed on a suburban commuter train.
23-year-old Alexus Brightly says her life was destroyed when a police sniffer dog discovered 12 ecstasy tablets concealed inside a condom on her person in 2012.
“I had dreams of living in London and working at Vogue,” said the mother-of-two.
“But then drugs ruined my life,”
“I used to do a few E’s to loosen up and get my boogie on. I thought it was harmless fun. I never hurt anybody,”
“But after the police charged me with a string of drug-lated offences – I knew my life was over. I’ll still be paying for my mistakes in 50 years time.”
“I don’t dream anymore. I just work at Hoyts Logan and struggle to keep my head above water. All because of drugs.”
Victorian police have also stated the dangerous of mixing drugs with being Indigenous, saying that police will “come down like a tonne of bricks” on those people in particular.
The serious warnings have come after two Hawthorne teenagers were hospitalised earlier this year after consuming too much marijuana.
After consuming two bottles of Jack Daniels in the space of an afternoon, the teens decided they’d like to “cap off the evening” by sharing a joint behind the Bunnings on Manningtree Road.
It’s understood by police that during this time, one of the teens “greened out” – which is street slang for a marijuana overdose.
The 17-year-old man was rushed to Saint Georges Hospital in a very stable position and made a full recovery after a receiving a course of McDonalds.
