Family of Kamloops teen who died at Center of Gravity reacts after music festival cancelled

KAMLOOPS – The family of a 16-year-old aspiring doctor who died of a drug overdose at the Center of Gravity music festival in 2018 is glad the annual event has been cancelled indefinitely.

Kamloops resident Adison Davies travelled to Kelowna with friends for a fun-filled weekend nearly two years ago, but her life came to a sudden end on July 27, 2018.

According to a coroner’s report into the teen’s death, Davies died of a seizure and cardiac arrest after consuming what she thought was a tablet of ecstasy.

The coroner said street drugs can contain unexpected psychoactive substances, and MDMA or ecstasy can also be sold as MDA, which has more stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.

Drug-checking services were not available on site at the festival, the report noted.

Last year, the popular festival announced that it was taking a hiatus for 2019 and recently revealed it won’t be returning to Kelowna at all.

Festival organizers did not say if Davies’ death contributed to the decision to cancel the festival.

“Since its inauguration in 2008, Center of Gravity grew to become one of the largest sports and music festivals in Canada,” the festival said on its website. “We are truly grateful for the contributions that each of you made to create this amazing event. We are announcing that Center of Gravity will not be returning.”

The teen’s father, Rob Davies, said he is “ecstatic” that the event is cancelled, expressing disappointment with the way festival organizers handled his daughter’s death.

“They did not come forward and speak to us personally to discuss how we felt about the fact that the drug-testing was not available for these kids to be able to have drugs that they’ve purchased [checked] with the thoughts that the drug they were taking would be safe but [that they] would want it tested,” he told Global News from his home in Kamloops.

Rob was also discouraged that Kelowna RCMP decided not to recommend charges, as it was classified as an overdose.

“She was given a drug that was intended to kill someone. We know that for a fact because we’ve got all of the toxicology reports and all of the other information that we got from the paramedics, from the hospital at KGH, and we have now come to an understanding that the drug that she purchased from the person was intended to hurt; it was not a drug of Addi’s choice,” he said.

Rob said drug dealers who provide a lethal supply of an illicit substance to an unassuming user resulting in a fatal overdose should be charged with manslaughter, as has recently been the case in Edmonton and Saskatoon.

“This is what we want to bring back into the system; these people are investigated and are charged with manslaughter,” he said.

In response, Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy said she understands the family’s wishes for justice in Adison’s death and empathizes with them, but there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward with the case.

“Kelowna RCMP conducted a fulsome investigation, however there was insufficient evidence to support the charge approval process,” Noseworthy said in an email.

The coroner’s report into the teen’s death included a recommendation to the Interior Health Authority that it “ensures drug checking and information about harm reduction and substance use risks are available at major events where illicit substance use is a known risk.”

It is a recommendation that Rob fully supports.

“If they’re going to come through their gates to their festival … they are going to divulge their drug of choice and have it tested,” he said.

Rob described his daughter as a driven, hard-working student who cared for and supported at-risk youth.

“Addi had this real keen drive behind herself to get into the medical world. She wanted to become, possibly, a transplant surgeon,” he said.

He said Adison’s friends revealed she experimented with ecstasy only a few times before attending the festival. Rob said it should be a wake-up call for other young recreational drug users.

“These kids are invincible, they believe they are, and if they can just get that message drilled into their mind – ‘Hey, wait a minute, yes, I want to purchase ecstasy, but how do I know it’s ecstasy? Because I heard of a little girl that’s 16 years old that died from taking a drug that was intended to kill,'” Rob said.

“Addi was a beautiful young woman that we all are so proud of.”

Global Okanagan has reached out to Kelowna RCMP and the Center of Gravity’s founder, Scott Emslie, for comment.