Four.Corners.2016.02.15.Dying.To.Dance.360p.LDTV.WEBRIP.[MPup]

Four.Corners.2016.02.15.Dying.To.Dance.360p.LDTV.WEBRIP.[MPup]
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Dying to Dance. Inside the dance party drug scene. Caro Meldrum-Hanna reports. #4Corners



   "We're in the 21st Century. If the Government thinks that people are going to stop taking drugs, they're kidding themselves." Drug User

In this provocative Four Corners story, Gold Walkley award-winning reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna goes inside Australia's dance party drug scene.

   "It's cheaper than alcohol. One pill's 20 bucks and it'll last you four hours." Drug User

They could be your friends, your workmates, your children.

   "People are like 'it's so dangerous you don't know what you're taking', and well actually, we're taking it anyway." Drug User

They're the voices of young Australians, speaking candidly about taking so-called "party drugs" and they're more common than you would guess. Australians are the highest users of ecstasy and its main chemical component MDMA, per capita, in the world.

And despite the feel good nickname, "party drugs" can kill. Seven young Australians have died in the space of a year, hospital admissions are on the rise and concerns are growing about the increasing purity of the drugs. But this isn't deterring them.

   "Like sometimes you have a car crash but you still drive your car." Drug User

With billions spent on enforcing anti-drug laws, some of Australia's most eminent medical, legal and policing minds are speaking out and saying the "war on drugs" is failing.

   "This law enforcement effort is not only not effective but is actually harmful. The focus on drug law enforcement has been an expensive way of achieving failure." Drug Law Reform Expert

   "We should be doing everything we can to ensure that if kids do experiment in this way when they're young, they're going to survive the experience." Former Senior Police Officer