Above & Beyond is taking their Common Grounds Tour to Australia this weekend for two incredible shows. The first stop will be at the Hisense Arena on Friday then followed by a show at the Sydney Olympic Park.
While Australia’s trance family are hyping themselves up for the upcoming shows, Sydney police have just released a statement that may deter some some fans. Police intend to ban any fan that their sniffer dogs sits next to – even if you don’t have any drugs. A New South Wales police spokeswoman confirmed that only those who are found with possession of drugs will be arrested but anyone that has a dog sat next to them will be removed from the venue.
This enraged a lot of fans as not only do tickets come with a hefty price tag, it is simply not fair to those who are innocent. To make matters worst, a study conducted in 2011 indicates that out of 14,102 cases involving a sniffer dog, 11,248 of those times (approximately 80%), no drugs were found.
David Shoebridge, who has been an advocate against drug-sniffing dogs through the Sniff Off campaign, commented that it is “a clear abuse of police powers.” “It’s not an offense to have a drug dog falsely indicate you are carrying drugs,” he said. “We have known for many years that between two-thirds and three-quarters of drug dog indications are false positives where people are not found to be carrying any drugs.”
This is reportedly not the first time police have enforced such outrageous policies. Similar procedures were implemented last month at the Midnight Mafia event. Hopefully you won’t be one of the unlucky ones who are wrongfully banned from this weekend’s show.
