History books will probably remember Woodstock '99 as a festival that went down in flames, but many concertgoers might not remember it at all. For three days in Rome, N.Y., drug use was as much a part of the festivities as the mud, moshing, nudity and music.
There were 2,500 event security guards patrolling Griffis Air Force Base, according to event co-promoter John Scher, but their presence didn't seem to act as a deterrent to concertgoers buying, selling, trading and taking a variety of narcotics out in the open. Marijuana was the most predominant among an assortment of illicit substances that included LSD, Ecstasy, Special K, nitrous oxide, PCP and heroin. In fact, the air was even more polluted with the smell of pot than it was with the stink coming off of the 250,000 unwashed campers.
But pot smoking was child's play compared to the heavy-duty drugs that turned many in the festival's audience into tripped-out zombies. During Fatboy Slim's set at one of Woodstock's nightly raves, partyers openly snorted Special K, ate mushrooms and sucked on balloons filled with nitrous oxide. "You can get your hands on just about anything," said one stoned audience member.
Those who took too much and couldn't come down wound up either at one of the site's medical units or at the Griffis Air Force Base Hospital's psychiatric unit, where a team of psychiatrists, psychologist and clinical social workers was set up to handle anyone who was too far gone to be treated by the medics in the First Aid tents.
In the end, despite rumors to the contrary, no lives were claimed by drug use. But that seems to have been a stroke of sheer luck. Associate Director of Psychiatry Dr. John Connell said that seven of his unit's patients were admitted to hospitals for longer-term care, some of whom had become suicidal during their bad trips and others who were suffering from such severe psychotic reactions that they required additional care. For those concertgoers still receiving treatment, their Woodstock experience isn't over yet.
JENNY ELISCU
(July 27, 1999)