BONNAROO DRUG ARRESTS DOWN 50%, SHERIFF SAYS

MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- Despite the obvious presence of drugs such as
marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms and Ecstasy at Bonnaroo this
year, drug arrests and citations were down 50 percent as of Sunday
afternoon, Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said.

Arrests totaled 76 for all the law-enforcement agencies working the
area, and the Coffee County Sheriff's Department had issued just over
100 citations. Most of the charges were drug-related, Graves said,
but the quantity of drugs found at Bonnaroo this year was nowhere
near what has been found in recent years.

"It's a good thing," Graves said. "So far, everything went better
than expected."

But Bonnaroo fans aren't quick to believe that drugs use has dropped
significantly.

"I'm high right now," said Earl Carter, 26, of Pasadena, Md., jokingly.

Brad Mitchell, 24, also of Pasadena, Md., said quantities of
marijuana may be down, but harder drugs are still making the rounds.

"I'm gonna tell you what's really true," Mitchell said. "It's easier
to get hard drugs in because it doesn't stink and they're smaller.
You can get whatever you want here."

Some "Roonies" acknowledged that security has tightened -- and noted
that "there are undercover cops dressed like hippies everywhere" --
but said that has only led to an increase in underground drug sales.

"People are more quiet about it, and quiet about selling it," said
Christy Walsh, 23, of Culpepper, Va. "Instead of running around
screaming that they've got drugs, they're selling to their friends or
people they know. It's less advertised, but it's still there."

Drug-traffic control may have been more successful this year, but the
event wasn't all smooth sailing.

Joshua Overall, 21, of Hamilton, Ohio, was killed when he walked in
front of bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs' tour bus near the Bonnaroo
festival site Friday night.

Overall, who was wearing a Bonnaroo wristband, climbed over a
chain-link right-of-way fence and walked into westbound traffic on
Interstate 24 when he was struck by the bus, according to Tennessee
Department of Safety officials. On Thursday night, an unidentified
man fell after he climbed, naked, up the scaffolding of a stage
during a performance of the band Dios (Malos) and was airlifted to
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Bonnaroo officials said.