Adison Davies was 16 years old when she died on July 27, 2018, after going into medical distress at Kelowna's Center of Gravity music festival.
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April 11, 2019 - 10:22 AM
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops teenaged girl who died at a music festival in Kelowna last summer died from an accidental drug overdose.
Sixteen-year-old Adison Paige Davies died as a result of unintentional overdose of MDA or methylenedioxyamphetamine, which caused a seizure and cardiac arrest on July 27, 2018, according to a coroner's report released today, April 11.
Davies was attending the Centre of Gravity music festival in Kelowna with friends and had no health concerns when she consumed a tablet of what she thought was ecstasy.
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“A short time later Adison started to have difficulty breathing and seizure-like behaviour,” the coroner says in the report. “Medical professionals were stationed at the festival and quickly began treating Adison.”
Approximately 20 minutes later, Davies became unresponsive. Resuscitation was attempted but was unsuccessful, the coroner says.
“[The] autopsy revealed pulmonary oedema and congestion which was consistent with a death due to a seizure and cardiac arrest following ingestion of a toxic level of methylenedioxyamphetamine.”
The coroner's findings say street drugs often contain adulterating agents such as diluents or unexpected psychoactive substances. When unexpected, such effects can potentially pose increased risk for consumers.
The Interior Health Authority has the authority to provide drug checking at major events as an overdose prevention service under the Public health Act. However, drug checking was not available at the festival that Davies attended on July, 27, 2018, the report states.
In April 2018, the B.C. Coroners Service released a report on illicit drug overdose deaths and provided information to determine what further can be done to prevent illicit drug overdoses and overdose deaths. One of the findings included improving the accessibility of drug checking services using validating technologies.
“Drug checking is one approach to harm reduction that aims to inform people who use drugs about the contents of their substances," the report into Davies' death states.
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