High energy, all-night dance parties and clubs known as
"raves", which feature dance music with a fast, pounding beat and
choreographed laser programs, have become increasingly popular over the last
decade, particularly among teenagers and young adults. Beginning as an
underground movement in Europe, raves have evolved into a highly organized,
commercialized, worldwide party culture. Rave parties and clubs are
now found throughout the United States and in countries around the
world. Raves are held either in permanent dace clubs or at temporary
venues set up for a single weekend event in abandoned warehouses, open fields,
or empty buildings.
Attendance can range from 30 "ravers" in a small
club to tens of thousands in a sports stadium or open field. While
techno music and light shows are essential to raves, drugs such as MDMA,
ketmine, GHB, rohypnol and LSD, have become an integral component of the rave
culture.
Today's raves are characterized by high entrance fees,
extensive drug use, exorbitantly priced bottled water, very dark and often
dangerously overcrowded dance floors, and "chill rooms", where
teenager ravers go to cool down and often engage in open sexual
activity. Club owners and promoters appear to promote the use of drugs -
especially MDMA. They provide bottle water and sports drinks to manage hypothermia
and dehydration; pacifiers to prevent involuntary teeth
clenching; and menthol nasal inhalers, chemical lights and neon glow sticks to
enhance the effect of MDMA.
Despite the commercialization of raves through the 1990's,
many promoters have preserved the tradition of rave location secrecy, more as
a novelty than as a necessity. In this tradition, raves are rarely
promoted in open media but are advertised on flyers found only at record
stores and clothing shops, at other rave parties and clubs, and on rave
Internet sites. The flyers or Internet advertisements typically provide
only the name of the city where the rave will be held and a phone number for
additional information.
The location of the rave often is given to the caller over the
telephone, but many promoters further maintain secrecy by providing only a
location called a "map point", where ravers go the night of the
rave. At the map point, ravers are told the actual location of the
rave. The map point is usually a record or clothing store within a 20
minute drive of the rave.
Drugs like MDMA, ketamine, GHB, rohypnol, and LSD - known collectively as
"club drugs" are an integral part of the rave culture. Many
ravers use club drugs and advocate their use, wrongly believing that they are
not harmful if they are used "responsibly" and their effects are
managed properly.
Members of private drug education and drug testing organizations called
"harm reduction organizations", have appeared at raves over the past
10 years. They attend rave events to test samples of illegal drugs so
they can inform ravers of purity levels. Members of these organizations
believe that they help reduce the number of overdoses by education users on
the physical effects of specific drugs.
Rampant use of club drugs at raves may be leading to the use of other and
highly addictive drugs by youths. Heroin is being encountered more
frequently at raves and clubs. A wider variety of visually appealing and
easy-to-administer forms of MDMA, LSD, heroin, and combination tablets are
also found at raves and on college campuses.
Many young ravers wear distinctive clothing and carry
paraphernalia commonly associated with club drugs use and the rave
culture. Ravers dress for comfort. They usually wear lightweight,
loose-fitting clothes and dress in layers, allowing them to remove
clothing as they become overheated from dancing for hours. After hours of
dancing and often after using MDMA - which elevates body temperature - many
ravers have removed most of their clothing. Some ravers, especially
females, wear costumes to rave events, dressing as princesses, cartoon
characters, or other fantasy figures that match the theme of the
rave.
They often wear bright accessories like bracelets, necklaces,
and earrings made of either plastic beads or pill-shaped sugar candies.
MDMA users sometimes use these accessories to disguise their drugs, stringing
MDMA tablets mixed with the candies. Many chew on baby pacifiers or lollipops
to offset the effects of involuntary teeth grinding.
Ravers use bright chemical lights and flashing lights to
heighten the hallucinogenic properties of MDMA Chemical glow sticks,
bracelets, and necklaces are commonly worn at raves and waved in the eyes of
MDMA users for visual stimulus. Ravers that use MDMA often wear
painter's masks with menthol vapor rub applied to the inside of the mask, they
believe that by inhaling the menthol fumes they are enhancing the effects of
the drug. They may be adding to their risk of hypothermia,
because the fumes cause the eye and nasal passages to dry out.
"Raves -- Information
Bulletin". U.S. Department of Justice. <http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic>
