Shining foreheads, bare chests and silver navel shirts. The unexpectedly warm late summer shines through this September afternoon at the Utrecht Smeerboel festival. About 18,000 people came to listen to house and techno DJs, among other things. This week, Smeerboel was under fire for flirting with drug use on social media.
Smeerboel’s organization had posted a block schedule on Instagram, in which activities such as “an intense hug with a vague acquaintance” were alternated with “having half a meal”, “relaxing” and “this is for horses, right?”. The latter is a clear reference to the anesthetic that is often used as a party drug: ketamine.
According to the festival organization, it was a joke, “with a wink”. Online criticism of the action immediately arose. For example, the chief executive of the Dutch Police Union called for the festival’s permit to be reevaluated and various political parties from the municipal council want to ask mayor Sharon Dijksma questions.
Festival Smeerboel responded to the criticism in an Instagram post and says it “in no way” promotes drugs. “Humor and open communication are the common threads in our marketing. There’s no arguing about taste when it comes to jokes. We just don’t want to pretend that drug use doesn’t exist and not talk about it.” The organization does not want to answer further questions, according to a press officer who specializes in crisis communication.
Not every Smeerboel visitor appears to be aware of the promotion. Those who are often react mildly. “That block schedule also included having a fifth beer at 1 p.m., you don’t hear anyone about that.” This 37-year-old Tax Authorities employee himself is “microdosing” with LSD, in addition to the ecstasy he had already taken.
His friend, a city councilor, agrees: “I would recommend drugs rather than alcohol, because I see alcohol going wrong much more often.” The two are in favor of “doing stupid things in an informed manner.” They buy the designer LSD online. “That is not yet on the Opium List. The shape is included not for human consumption.” Both do not want their names published for privacy reasons NRC.
However, drug use is not increasing across the board, according to figures from the National Drug Monitor of the Trimbos Institute. However, the drug ketamine is showing a clear upward trend. Psychedelics, such as magic mushrooms and LSD, are also now used slightly more than before corona.
Trimbos research into drug use among outgoing young people between 16 and 35 years old in 2021 showed that more than half of the respondents had used ecstasy. Nearly one-third of respondents had ever taken ketamine.
Mountain of cocaine
Drug-oriented marketing is not new, says Floor van Bakkum, prevention spokesperson for addiction care organization Jellinek. “In the 1990s there were also dance festivals with allusions to drug use.” As an example, she cites a flyer from the Hotel California party in the Amsterdam club Panama at the beginning of this century, which showed a mountain of cocaine and bloody noses of female partygoers.
“It’s not our way,” says Van Bakkum. However, she believes it is most important to continue to communicate openly about drug use. Festivals should certainly not deny its existence: “I agree with Smeerboel.”
Van Bakkum: “I think friends are quite honest among themselves about their use, but that does not mean that they discuss it with everyone. People are often reluctant and, for example, do not tell the first aid what they have used.”
Martha de Jonge, drug prevention project leader at the Trimbos Institute, also does not think that this Instagram post is effective in “making drug use a topic of discussion.” “The message that is now being conveyed is: drug use is very normal at our festival and we actually like that. Visitors who don’t use this also see this.”
“Discussing drug use should also be about ‘I see my friends using a lot of drugs and I’m worried,’” says De Jonge. “Talking about when things go wrong, or when you don’t want to, becomes more difficult when a lot of drug use is normal. Smeerboel puts it like this: fuck the social norm, just do it, don’t be like that, we’re all chill. But it is a very risky product, especially in this heat.”
Headache
At about four o’clock in the afternoon the security is busy: every visitor is strictly checked. “The municipality gave that order,” says a guard who is taking a break. “A lot was really taken: bags of MDMA, weed, GHB, liquid MDMA.” He chuckles: “With this music you really need something, it’s just ramming. I already have a headache.” At the emergency room it appears that there have already been several cases of overheating, partly due to drug use, which is less than expected at that time.
There are two drug information teams next to the sunscreen stand. One is from Unity – which provides information on safe use, and the other is TeamAlert which alerts users to the dangers of driving under the influence. The attention of the audience is attracted with stickers, stick-on tattoos, glitter and quizzes.
25-year-old Sabine from TeamAlert has just completed a conversation with a young woman who said that her group of friends do drive under the influence of drugs at house parties. She tries to keep these types of conversations as light and positive as possible, and not judgmental. Sabine finds Smeerboel’s marketing campaign “on the border”. “Starting with half is quite a lot.” But, she muses: “the target group doesn’t care anyway.”
In her own circle of friends, she is sometimes the only one at dance parties who does not use drugs. Sometimes she talks to friends about their substance use: “So, the second weekend in a row. How do you think things are going, we say. Fortunately, we are very open about that.”
No tolerance
The role that festivals have is double, says Van Bakkum of Jellinek, and therefore communication is contradictory. “Our drug policy makes possession a punishable offense and so a festival’s permit is based on no-tolerance. At the same time, you want to keep the path to assistance open.”
According to De Jonge van het Trimbos, festivals can better set the tone by saying: “For your own health, we would rather you not use” and also take the necessary measures for the group that does, such as cooling, information and specialized first aid. -to post.
Despite the drug use of festival visitors, Willem Westermann of the Association of Event Makers (VVEM) has “no indication” that the number of drug-related incidents at festivals has increased in recent years.