Is the Banning of Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) a Just Measure?

By DEANNA NIKOIAN
Ddnikoian@ucla.edu

Hundreds were injured and one 15-year-old girl died due to a drug overdose at the 2010 Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). In response to the outrage of such an event, LA city officials have decided to cancel the event in 2011. EDC is a two-day rave held each year in June at the LA Coliseum. At this year’s event there were approximately 185,000 ravers who paid top dollar to see big-name lineups including Armin Van Buuren, Benny Benassi, Deadmau5, Dirty South, Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia and many more. It is common knowledge that many partake in drinking and drug-use at raves. Nevertheless, it is believed that it is done only to enhance the overall enjoyment of the event. Ultimately, this is what led to the death of a 15-year-old girl who was reported to have been high off of both marijuana and ecstasy. This raises the question, should the misuse of illegal substances by a minor ban an event that nearly 200,000 people enjoy annually? Is it not the individual’s responsibility to control him or herself?

Surely no one held a gun to the teenager’s head and forced her to swallow any pills. Her decision to use illegal substances to such an overwhelmingly degree was her own. It might be said that, “Well, she was only a minor so she didn’t know any better.” While this may be true, it this raises another question, why on earth would someone’s parents allow their 15-year-old daughter to attend such an event? Sure, she probably left out the fact that she would be going to a rave and probably lied and said she would be spending the night at a friend’ s house. However, the parents cannot fully be blamed because at the end of the day, kids will do what they want. Most importantly, Insomniac Events, the company that promotes events like EDC cannot be blamed either. If people are going to attend the event and use illegal substances, then there is nothing society can do to prevent these cases from happening.

If the parents cannot prevent their children from attending the event, then how can Insomniac Events be expected to better monitor any minor at an event that houses thousands of people? Sure, EDC officials could hire more security, something they plan on doing in the future but it is the individual’s responsibility to handle him or herself. “The events that took place were no one’s fault but the fault of the 15-year-old girl.” Insomniac Events has stated that there is a very good chance that future events will most likely be 18+. This means that all attendees are adults and should be able to monitor their own behavior and take responsibility for their decisions.

Although I have never been to a rave before, I look forward to going to one eventually, and I would want to attend EDC one day since they represent many popular DJs. Still it really upsets me that the actions of one minor could jeopardize this for me. I do not like the fact that an “event” is being blamed for the death of a minor rather than the girl herself. Has this really become a society that directs all blame away from the individual? Sure in some cases there is no one to blame.

Living in such a large city like Los Angeles, it is impossible to monitor everything that everyone does. Similarly, an event that hosts over 185,000 cannot monitor everyone no matter how much security is hired. It simply comes down to the individual being responsible enough to and knowing when enough is enough. This is not to say that I promote drug use; I promote free choice. If a person chooses to partake in drug-use, then it is that person’s decision, and only they should be responsible for the consequences. When something goes wrong, we cannot be so quick to point fingers at others. In this case, it is wrong to point fingers at Insomniac Events and EDC because they cannot be held responsible for the actions of all the attendees.

It is called free will for a reason and until that is taken away from us, we have no one to blame but ourselves.