Critique of Article on Music Festival Attendees' Illicit Drug Use

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Reference
Day, N., Criss, J., Griffiths, B., Gujral, S. K., John-Leader, F., Johnston, J., & Pit, S. (2018).
Music festival attendees’ illicit drug use, knowledge and practices regarding drug content
and purity: a cross-sectional survey. Harm reduction journal, 15(1), 1-8.
Introduction
The use of illegal drugs by young adults attending music festivals is a concern of both the parent
and the government. Studies indicate that approximately 42.6% of Australian teenagers aged 14
years and above have previously used illicit drugs (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
2017). Moreover, the attendees of music festivals consume much more illegal drugs than their
counterparts in the general population. The use of drug checking services at the site of music
festivals is a strategy geared towards reducing the harm caused by the intake of such illicit drugs.
However, this approach has been criticized for its effectiveness. This paper is aimed at critiquing
the article by Day et al. (2018) with an objective of determining the reliability of its findings and
advising Emily’s mother accordingly. The specific areas of critique include authorship, research
objective, research methods, research design and limitations
PART A – Critical Appraisal
Authorship
The seven authors of the study have varied affiliations in different institutions. However, the
article does not expressly disclose the academic qualifications of the authors, but this can be

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deduced from their affiliations. The researchers are affiliated to the school of medicine, public
health, harm reduction and health promotion activities, public health, and centre for rural health.
These show that the authors have not only the required academic qualifications to work in such
offices but experience also. Additionally, the respective roles played by each of the researchers
provide a hint to their qualifications. Each author undertook at least two roles with all of them
being involved in the development of the design, drafting and approval.
The use of a convenience sample is likely to lead to researcher bias especially when comparing
the outcomes of the study with other populations (Creswell & Clark, 2017). The authors have an
expectation of the outcomes and therefore may influence the findings even by selecting a
convenience sample for analysis. Moreover, since all the authors are affiliated to institutions
which may have or are likely to handle relatively similar areas of study, the previous findings
may influence their judgement and interpretation of the current study.
Research Question
What is the knowledge and practices of youths attending music festivals regarding drug testing
services on site?
The intake of illicit drugs by Australian youths aged 14 years has been on the rise at an alarming
rate. It has been observed high consumption of illegal drugs takes place in music festivals
(Butterfield, Barratt, Ezard, & Day, 2016). Studies indicate that musical festival attendees abuse
drugs while in such functions more than the rate of drug abuse in the general population. The
study by Jenkinson, Bowring, Dietze, Hellard, and Lim (2014) in Australia found out that 44%
of the attendees of music festivals had consumed illegal drugs in the last thirty days. The drugs