Every year for three decades, the UCSD has held a music festival called the Sun God Festival. Students attend and relax, getting a day to relieve tensions before returning to the classroom and studies. As of late, however, the administration has become concerned with increased drug use happening at the festival and the poor decisions students are making; mixing drugs with alcohol. This year a San Diego student, Ricardo Ambriz, fatally collapsed in his dorm room after attending the festival all day. Witnesses heard Ambriz talking “gibberish” before he collapsed, and as he left the festival around midnight, he was “reaching his hands into the air attempting to grab at things.” The level of abuse has increased since 2012, with 21 people being hospitalized in 2012 and 48 people this year, 2014. Witnesses say earlier in the day Ambriz admitted to taking some type of drug and continuously drank alcohol throughout the day. During the autopsy, the medical examiner performed toxicology tests and found a drug called 5-APB or “Benzo Fury,” a drug derived of MDA, which has been linked to amphetamines. The festival website has added information and warnings about drugs and mixing drugs with alcohol. A police investigation produced no information as to where Ambriz may have gotten the drug.
Sources:
“UCSD Student Dies Of Overdose After Attending All Day Music Festival” – LA Times