FOCUS Mar-00 Harm Reduction and Circuit Parties
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F A Guide toOAIDSCResearch andU CounselingS Volume 15 Number 4 March 2000 by groups of individuals working with very Harm Reduction small budgets. While some of these have developed into huge parties called “mas- in the Rave Community sives” with attendance at more than Kirsten Henricksen 10,000, the best raves are still thrown by small, dedicated collectives. Admittance usually requires a ticket sold in advance, Over the past 10 to 15 years, a world- at any price between $10.00 and $150.00, wide community of people has come and the venue is sometimes unknown until together to share art, music, dance, and the day of the party. People usually arrive drugs in a new context: the rave party. at around 10:00 pm and stay all night. At their best, raves are elaborate private Because the rave scene encourages parties, decorated and thrown with a creative expression, a good party often reverence for free creative expression in includes ravers in bright day-glow outfits, any form—art, dance, spirituality, and glow sticks, and glitter make-up, and most importantly, music. For many people venues with elaborate decorations and attending these parties, the experience is complex lighting. There are layers of enhanced by the use of drugs. And techno music penetrating the space: any because chemicals are involved, raves can space will do, the only necessary element pose risks to some individuals. is excellent sound equipment. This techno In response to these risks, the rave com- music can take endless forms, and munity has fostered collectives of individu- depending on the form of the music, so als working to distribute information about can the crowds. Young suburban kids are harm reduction. Employing an unbiased drawn to a much different party than and nonjudgmental approach, groups such middle-aged tripping hippies. Inner-city as DanceSafe in the San Francisco Bay Area, kids are likely to be drawn to a very dif- Crew 2000 in Amsterdam, and the Toronto ferent type of gathering than the well- Raver Information Project (TRIP) in oiled circuit party boys. The movement Toronto, are taking harm reduction to has grown to include people from every raves and other underground parties background, age, and economic status. throughout the world. This article defines Most of the creative energy of a rave is the rave “scene” and what attracts people sensory, and often the goal is to create a to it, describes the development of a harm positive sensory response, which can be reduction approach in the rave community, heightened by drug use. Ravers seek envi- and explores how this approach might be ronments conducive to the use of a particu- applied to HIV-related risk. lar classification of drugs recently labeled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse An Introduction to Raving (NIDA) as “Club Drugs.” These drugs The rave scene grew out of several shift- include, but are not limited to, crystal ing elements over the past two decades. methamphetamine (speed, crystal meth, Significant growth in art, technology, crystal), gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB, G, music, and drug chemistry have all helped Liquid X), ketamine (K, Special K), and most to create a thriving underground commu- commonly, methylenedioxymethampheta- nity. And, it is important to acknowledge mine (MDMA, ecstasy, E, X, XTC). While that it is a community. Most underground some people do come to parties having parties and raves started out being thrown already bought their drugs, most ravers people who would otherwise Editorial: Wonder and Caution throw it completely to the wind. Robert Marks, Editor The second article in this issue—by Robert Guzman—looks My history is almost devoid of disbelief. Whether it is the youth at another manifestation of the experience with controlled sub- culture or the drug culture or dance party, the circuit party. stances: the bottom line is that different racial or ethnic cultures, Both Guzman and Henricksen my body just does not react well I am bound by my own limited offer perspectives from the to drugs and alcohol. I’ve also experience, and when faced with inside, ethnographic snapshots been socialized to believe that an experience so different from of a world that has not received while taking drugs is not a moral my own, I should seek to dilute much attention in the United failing—and society should my skepticism with wonder. States. (You might notice that the continue along the path to The great thing about Henrick- Recent Reports section of this decriminalization—it is not the sen’s approach is that she has issue includes articles only from healthiest way of living. Despite achieved the converse, if not Europe and Australia; it was very an ever-growing embrace of embracing a skepticism of her difficult to find published stud- harm reduction as an HIV pre- own, at least acknowledging the ies of the U.S. situation.) vention strategy, this perception risks of raves and party drugs, There is no doubt that some of drug use seems to be shared mixing her wonder with caution. people prefer the clarity of absti- by many HIV providers. People like Henricksen and orga- nence to the complexity of harm So, it was a challenge to edit nizations like DanceSafe—or, for reduction, but human behavior is Kirsten Henricksen’s review of that matter, STOP AIDS or the usually messier than that. the rave scene. A little voice in needle exchange advocacy group Henricksen and Guzman offer at my head kept wondering: is the Prevention Point—take on the least the first step toward signifi- scene really as fabulous as crucial societal role of not only cant harm reduction in this area: Henricksen suggests? The answer identifying risk but also mediat- a catalog of behavior, motivation, I came to is that crossing cultures ing caution, making it compre- and risk at these increasingly requires a certain suspension of hensible and acceptable to popular gatherings. purchase drugs at the event.1 The most drugs or different drugs simply because popular drug is ecstasy, and it was the they have been offered. rediscovery of ecstasy and its derivatives in Because this environment is not risk- the late 1970s and early 1980s that helped free, that is, because it relies on illegal to propel forward the rave movement. substances that have physical and psycho- Raves are meant to be safe, drug-friendly logical effects, the rave community faces challenges of suppression by establish- environments. While the concept of “safe- ments that are pre-programmed against ty” is relative, the rave scene has sought to them. In response, rave collectives—such create a sense of safety by perpetuating an as DanceSafe—have begun to self-police internal code of ethics exemplified by the the underground economy within the acronym PLUR, which stands for Peace, community, monitor the behaviors and Love, Unity, Respect. The scene also seeks mores of the community, and fight exter- to evoke a certain hedonistic rapture, the nal stereotyping about the community. end result of which may be 15 or 20 sweaty people lying together on a floor that is The Attraction of User-Friendly Environments covered in mattresses, entwined in a peace- The chemical composition of MDMA ful, drug-induced euphoria. The environ- causes the brain to release large amounts ment creates a level field, on which anyone of serotonin, and this release creates an can play and be accepted. The impact of euphoric, multi-sensory experience for the the decorations, the music, the lighting, user. The impact of MDMA on the user is the people, and the drugs create a contain- both validating and potentially life-chang- er around the party where responsibilities ing. For the first time E user, there is a and commitments fall aside. new understanding of individuality and For the experienced raver, it is easy to interconnection, a level of self-awareness find a balance between the party and real that is often called “spiritual.” life, to remember that everyone will have Users of MDMA will often dance for long to get back to life in the real world in the periods of time without stopping (some- morning. The inexperienced raver, howev- times referred to as “trance-dancing” or er, may lose track of concrete details over “trancing out”). The drug allows the user to the course of the party and take more hear the music more completely, to feel the 2 FOCUS March 2000 music. MDMA heightens and enhances the sy to cause damage to the neurotransmit- experiences of touch and physical reaction. ters of regular users.2 In addition, MDMA leads to some hallucino- genic effects through the increased ocular DanceSafe and Harm Reduction nerve stimulation that accompanies pupil While there are potential drawbacks to dilation. Ecstasy is also sometimes referred club drugs and the research is unclear about to as an “empathogen”— long-term use, public concern about club meaning that it allows drugs is rarely rooted in fact-based informa- the user to feel empathy tion. It is instead the result of the propagan- Rave collectives for his or her environ- da of a highly political drug war. The rise of ment. As such, the collectives such as DanceSafe demonstrates themselves are MDMA high leads to a that people within the rave community are loss of ego and to a themselves concerned about safety. But they concerned about greater likelihood than are also concerned about the effects of this safety, but they with other drugs of anti-drug campaign: the adulteration of bonding deeply with substances that results from a black market approach this other people. and the barrage of fear-based misinforma- Heightened sensory tion.