Thirty-eight Dragon Dreaming festival-goers were facing 49 drug-related charges from the 2018 event.

Magistrate Geraldine Beattie told them the Sydney woman had died from taking a drug, methylone, labelled as “toxic” and “dangerous”.

The woman thought she’d taken acid in a sugar cube shared with a friend, Magistrate Beattie said, reading from the coroner’s documents.

“This was a woman who didn’t usually take drugs or alcohol,” Ms Beattie said.

The woman had an adverse reaction to the drug that made her dizzy, nauseous and tired, Ms Beattie said.

A friend helped her to a car to sleep, and regularly checked on her throughout the night but, returning to check again at 5.30am, found the 23-year-old unresponsive. Doctors tried to resuscitate her, but she died at the festival, Ms Beattie said.

The autopsy found the 23-year-old was a healthy woman and the cause of death was “acute methylone”.

“Every year it is well-publicised that there is a heavy police presence at the festival,” Magistrate Beattie told the court.

“And yet every year, there are more and more people at this court for drug use. There has been more in the media recently about deaths at festivals from drugs.”

She reprimanded the defendants to “get it into your heads” that the consequences of drugs were serious.

None of those who appeared in court yesterday was from Yass. The majority of charges were for possession of a prohibited drug and/or driving with an illicit drug present in the blood.

A 25-year-old disability support worker from Canberra was convicted for possessing 15.7 grams of magic mushrooms and fined $1500.

A 25-year-old Victorian woman hoping to become a teacher was convicted for possessing 1.4 grams of MDMA and fined $900. 

A 24-year-old arborist apprentice from Victoria was convicted for possessing 7.6 grams of magic mushrooms and placed on a six-month conditional (good behaviour) bond.

Yass Tribune