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Now that Sydney's biggest GLBT party weekend is over police and para medics from the emergency department can reflect on the weekend.
With an obvious reduction of police at the entrance of the Mardi Gras Party this year, tension for many party goers was relaxed, certainly their would be less panic in taking happy pills prior to entering which was the case last year.
I'm not going to promote drug taking as this is not what the story is about, but isn't it interesting that with less police putting fear into party goers their is a reduced number of incidents.
It was reported that drug-related incidents failed to mar festivities over the Mardi Gras weekend, and emergency department doctors called it the best year ever.
Police arrested just five people for possession of ecstasy or cannabis throughout the weekend operation, less than half the drug-related arrests over the previous five years. Only one man was charged with supply.
St Vincent’s Emergency Department director Gordian Fulde said fewer arrests and hospital admissions indicated people were out to have fun without being stupid.
“It’s the best Mardi Gras, from an emergency department point of view, I’ve ever experienced by a long shot,” Dr Fulde said.
“The main fallout on the Saturday was basically bystanders who were drinking too much and fell over. There was very little that was attributable to the participants of the Mardi Gras and drug taking.”
With few problems arising during the Harbour Party the previous weekend, Fulde said the signs of problem-free Mardi Gras were already present.
“It’s been going down generally. Usually even the weekend before Mardi Gras, we have a lot of international visitors who want to party,” he said.
“We just didn’t have the same fallout this year that we had last year.”
