Published On: 1999-12-22
Source: National Post (Canada)
Fetched On: 2008-09-05 08:11:25
Last week, Toronto's city council passed the Protocol for the Operation of Safe Rave Events by a 39-0 vote. A section of it states that: "All organizers [of rave events] will provide space for community-based drug and health education."
Such initiatives within the rave scene have already been going on at moreresponsible dance events. In Toronto, a wave of drug warnings like "GHB Kills" stickers made their way through the dance scene and several party flyers stated: "If you do Crystal, don't show up."
Since the war on drugs has long been lost, it's time to wake up and realize that drug harm reduction is the next "safe sex." Most people don't want to die. Most people don't want to become drug addicts. People need the opportunity to make informed decisions. Info booths and stickers are only a beginning.
In Vancouver, ER Plus, a well-respected security firm that caters to large dance events, has worked out a deal with the RCMP whereby it hands over all confiscated drugs to Corporal Scott Rintoul of the RCMP Drug Awareness Program.
Since the war on drugs has long been lost, it's time to wake up and realize that drug harm reduction is the next "safe sex." Most people don't want to die. Most people don't want to become drug addicts. People need the opportunity to make informed decisions. Info booths and stickers are only a beginning.
In Vancouver, ER Plus, a well-respected security firm that caters to large dance events, has worked out a deal with the RCMP whereby it hands over all confiscated drugs to Corporal Scott Rintoul of the RCMP Drug Awareness Program.
The RCMP, which would have a harder time buying such contraband items, tests the confiscated goods and hands back lab results to ER Plus. The breakdown of what is actually in these substances is often quite scary.
This information is then passed on to scenesters and first-aid workers at dance events.
Theo Rosenfeld, who runs the drug harm-reduction Vancouver chapter of the privately funded American group DanceSafe, says he will soon make this information even more public. He's hoping to get photos of pills and post pill warnings on a future Vancouver section of Web site www.harmreduction.net which already performs this service for severalAmerican cities.
The 22-year-old would like to eventually do on-site Ecstasy testing in clubs and at dance events. Drug tests on request are already being conducted in Europe and by DanceSafe groups in the U.S. But today's Ecstasy tests simply alert the user to whether there is an amphetamine-like substance in a pill. There is still no guarantee. However, harm reductionists argue the most dangerous pills tend to contain no real Ecstasy-related substances.
Drug testing at events targets people who come to the table with safe drug use information. It reduces human guinea-pigs because it puts the word out on bad drugs. It can also filter out shady dealers.
Of course, talking about drugs and testing drugs at an event means admitting some are doing them. This does not, however, translate into condoning drug use. The reality is "these drugs are not going to go away," says Emanuel Sferios, DanceSafe's American director. Or, as Cpl. Rintoul notes: "We can't keep drugs out of our prisons, are we going to keep them out of raves? [But] we've got to try."
From initiatives spawned within the contemporary dance scene to savvy and realistic government officials, harm reduction strategies are the way to go. That's not to say recreational drug users will make the right choices even when they are informed. Some will always choose the path to self-destruction. After all, educated folks still choose to smoke addictive cigarettes or clog their arteries with greasy food. But at least they were warned before the plug got pulled.
Theo Rosenfeld, who runs the drug harm-reduction Vancouver chapter of the privately funded American group DanceSafe, says he will soon make this information even more public. He's hoping to get photos of pills and post pill warnings on a future Vancouver section of Web site www.harmreduction.net which already performs this service for severalAmerican cities.
The 22-year-old would like to eventually do on-site Ecstasy testing in clubs and at dance events. Drug tests on request are already being conducted in Europe and by DanceSafe groups in the U.S. But today's Ecstasy tests simply alert the user to whether there is an amphetamine-like substance in a pill. There is still no guarantee. However, harm reductionists argue the most dangerous pills tend to contain no real Ecstasy-related substances.
Drug testing at events targets people who come to the table with safe drug use information. It reduces human guinea-pigs because it puts the word out on bad drugs. It can also filter out shady dealers.
Of course, talking about drugs and testing drugs at an event means admitting some are doing them. This does not, however, translate into condoning drug use. The reality is "these drugs are not going to go away," says Emanuel Sferios, DanceSafe's American director. Or, as Cpl. Rintoul notes: "We can't keep drugs out of our prisons, are we going to keep them out of raves? [But] we've got to try."
From initiatives spawned within the contemporary dance scene to savvy and realistic government officials, harm reduction strategies are the way to go. That's not to say recreational drug users will make the right choices even when they are informed. Some will always choose the path to self-destruction. After all, educated folks still choose to smoke addictive cigarettes or clog their arteries with greasy food. But at least they were warned before the plug got pulled.
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