A 19-Year-Old Celebrating Her Birthday Died After Taking Molly at a Flume Concert in DC

A 19-year-old woman died after taking Molly at a Flume concert held in Washington DC's Echostage. Victoria Callahan, a sophomore at Coastal Carolina University, was celebrating her birthday on Wednesday night at the all-ages show. She complained of feeling sick around 12:15AM, police said. She was taken to the emergency room at Washington Hospital Center, where she passed sometime on Thursday morning.

This is the second Molly-related death at the Echostage concert venue. In September 2013, a 19-year-old University of Virginia student named Shelley Goldsmith collapsed and died from heatstroke after taking the drug at a Dada Life show. Shelley's mom, Dede Goldsmith, became the face of a national crusade for a better drug policy.

Specifically, Goldsmith is fighting to change the Rave Act, a federal law passed in 2003 that allows authorities to crack down on events that encourage drug use. As a result, dance event organizers stopped providing services like cool-down rooms, free water, and drug testing that could be interpreted as (tacitly) allowing drug use. Goldsmith wants to allow drug-testing organizations like DanceSafe back into festivals, raves, and music venues, saying in an interview, "It is wrong to believe that harm and risk reduction measures encourage drug use."

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