First aid workers warn of rising drug use risks at Dutch festivals
First aid services working at festivals across the Netherlands this summer are sounding the alarm over the growing ease with which attendees use drugs, warning that what seems like harmless pill-taking can quickly lead to serious health problems, RTL reports.
Neeltje Klunder, representing the EHBO service Event Safety, reports weekly cases of festival visitors seeking medical help due to drug-related complaints. Klunder, who has worked at major dance events such as Defqon and Mysteryland for years, notes that while drug use is not new, attendees today are far more casual about it.
“A pill is cheaper than alcohol, and nowadays it’s easier to get than a cigarette,” Klunder told RTL. “The problem is that people don’t understand what these pills do to the body. They hear from each other that you have a great time, but they barely know what’s in the pill.”
Klunder regularly treats people experiencing troubling symptoms that, although not always severe, are signs something is wrong.
Ronald van Litsenburg, director of EHBO service EMS, which operates at major events such as Dominator and Defqon, told RTL the overall level of drug use among festival visitors has not significantly changed.
Statistics show about 40 out of every 10,000 visitors seek help at first aid posts for various complaints ranging from headaches and stomach pain to cuts. Of these, about one-third—12 out of 10,000 visitors—have symptoms directly linked to drug use, van Litsenburg said.
Damian de Haas of DVS EventCare confirms these figures to RTL, noting no clear increase but observing heavier use among some attendees and a younger average age among those needing medical attention.
Data from the Trimbos Institute, a Dutch knowledge center on mental health and addiction, indicate that overall drug use among young people remains relatively low and stable. While no specific data exists on festival drug use, Trimbos psychologist Ruben van Beek sees no evidence of an increase compared to previous years.
However, the 2023 Trimbos monitor on drug-related incidents reports a rise in severe poisoning cases linked to xtc (MDMA) and ketamine at festivals. Nearly 48 percent of those cases were reportedly serious, despite the average MDMA dose in pills remaining unchanged. Trimbos suggests riskier patterns of xtc use and an increase in incidents involving 3-MMC since 2019 may explain the rise.
De Haas observes a cultural shift toward normalizing drug use among festivalgoers. “There is less shame around using because often (almost) the entire friend group uses. This gives us and partners better insight into the quality and effects of the substances. On the other hand, it lowers the barrier to ‘try it once.’”
Van Litsenburg also expresses concern over normalization. “Some visitors think it’s normal to take a pill without realizing the immediate dangers such as increased body temperature and heart rate. You can really be lucky to survive. That’s not cool — you become the unlucky one in the group,” Van Litsenburg told RTL.
Since 2021, addiction care center Novadic-Kentron has researched drug normalization among youth and young adults aged 16 to 27 in Noord-Brabant and Limburg. Recent data published in June reveal that perceptions of drugs vary widely by substance and situation.
The Trimbos Institute cautions that media use of the word “normalization” may unintentionally promote drug use or stigmatize users. “This is concerning because people tend to conform to social norms,” the institute said.
By strict definitions based on regular or recent use, the institute states there is no normalization in society as a whole. Most people have never used drugs, and many find drug use in their environment unacceptable. However, the report calls xtc “fairly normalized,” noting that its use happens most frequently at festivals—29 percent of total use—followed by other party drugs like 3-MMC.
Young adults who have used cannabis or xtc generally underestimate the risks compared to peers who have never tried drugs.
Klunder stresses the need for better education. She regrets that visitors can no longer have their drugs tested at festivals, as was common in the past. “There is never a prescription included with the pill. And when things go wrong, they go very wrong. People handle this way too casually. And parents think, ‘My child wouldn’t do that,’” RTL reports.
