Ecstasy and Club Drugs

Ecstasy and Club Drugs

Introduction

Club drugs are a loosely defined group of very diverse drugs that are used recreationally at nightclubs, dance parties, bars, and concerts. The four specific drugs that are categorized as club drugs by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy are MDMA (Ecstasy), GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), Rohypnol, and ketamine. It is used primarily by teenagers and young adults, these drugs have become fashionable due to their relatively low cost and perceived safety, and their ability to promote sociability, lower inhibitions, produce tranquility, and increase energy. As club drugs exploded in popularity during the 1990s, concern about their use and potential adverse effects became highly publicized in the media. Because these drugs are associated with all-night dance parties known as raves, drug prohibitionists in the United States pressed for legislation to eradicate use of these drugs by further criminalizing the drugs and also severely fining and arresting club owners and event promoters for drugs found on their premises. Both the media reports and ensuing legislation have led to significant controversy. Critics point out that the media reports have been highly sensationalized, government data have been faulty or deliberately misrepresented, and there is no scientific consensus about the long-term effects of these drugs. Anti-rave legislation has been criticized for threatening free speech and musical expression, and perpetuating ineffective policies. Therefore, all the issues related to Ecstasy and Club Drugs will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

Ecstasy use has been popularly associated for two decades with all-night dance raves and music festivals, but use patterns and user typologies have also been studied at schools, nightclubs, weddings, gay male circuit parties, bars, and homes especially in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and Australia, but also in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Norway, and other European countries. Many researchers have theorized changing patterns of ecstasy use as occurring in the face of globalizing forces and cultural and political developments. Some have highlighted its changing legal status and how that affects use trajectories, while others have investigated methods of manufacture and distribution, while yet others have fleshed out homogenizing stereotypes of the ecstasy user by probing the social settings and cultural contexts of its use (Saunders, 1996, 120).

For many years ecstasy users, especially in the United States, were assumed to be middle-class and upper-class whites, and high-risk sexual behaviors were often imputed to them. Australian researchers have highlighted ecstasy use by gay and bisexual males attending circuit parties that occur over long weekends, take place at multiple venues, and feature poly drug use and unprotected sexual intercourse. European researchers have underscored the role and function of ecstasy use while on holiday and among workers in hospitality industries. The findings of academic and public health researchers continue to inform public health, education, and law enforcement authorities (Baylen, 2006, 947).

Drug studies and other journals publish roughly 100 articles per year about ecstasy, many of which concern the changing standards of its manufacture. Over the years ecstasy has been increasingly ...