Youth, Drugs, and Nightlife

Geoffrey Hunt, Molly Moloney, Kristin Evans

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781134189243
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

Youth, Drugs, and Night Life examines the relationships between the electronic dance scene and drug use for young ravers and clubbers today. Based on over 300 interviews with ravers, DJ's and promoters, Hunt, Moloney, and Evans examine the different social groupings that make up the scene. The authors explore the accomplishment of gender, sexuality, and Asian American ethnic identity and critically analyze the negotiation of risk and pleasure within the world of raves and dance clubs. We learn about young ravers and clubbers' frustrations with recent attempts to control clubs and raves and their skepticism about official pronouncements on the dangers of ecstasy and other drugs, in this book that pivots between the local, the national, and the global in its approach.

Part I
Theory and methods for studying youth

Chapter 1
Epidemiology meets cultural studies

Studying and understanding youth cultures, clubs, and drugs

Introduction

The use of ecstasy (MDMA) and other club drugs¹ has increased dramatically in the US since the late 1990s. This growth in use has been accompanied by an escalation in concern about ecstasy and the young people who use it. The growth in ecstasy use has many causes, chief among which is the association between ecstasy use and the popularity of raves, clubs, and dance parties during this same period. Although the peak of raves may be past (arguably, raves peaked in 1994 in the UK and a bit later, in 2002, in the US), youth nightlife and dance scenes continue, ecstasy use among youth may be on the rise (Johnston et al. 2007), and attempts to control and regulate youth cultures persist.

A cursory look at the public perceptions of clubs and drugs reveals the existence of two opposing and contrasting perspectives or discourses. One, an official discourse, characterizes raves, dance events, and taking drugs as situations of “excess risk” (D. Moore and Valverde 2000: 528), which need to be controlled and regulated. An indicator of the extent of the concern and the desire for regulation was the passing in 2003 of the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, previously named the “RAVE Act,” in the US. In attempting to close down raves, here the establishment revealed “a trenchant fear of youth transcendence – as authorities, suspicious of bodily pleasure, conflate dance with moral corruption” (St. John 2004: 5; see Chapter 4 of this book for more on this legislation). The other discourse, as exemplified in accounts of the participants themselves, and sometimes referred to as “subjugated knowledges” (D. Moore 2008), emphasizes the importance of dance events and club drugs for young people and the pleasures derived from attending and using. The dichotomous nature of the discourses – an official, expert, and governmental response to raves and the techno dance scene, on the one hand, and the insider perspectives of the youthful participants, on the other – is not altogether surprising; adult concerns with and attempts to control youthful practices have been witnessed many times before (Griffin 1993) and today we may be seeing an increasing “governance of youth” (Bunton et al. 2004b: 8).

A division between perspectives on and approaches to understanding raves and drug use, though, can be found not just in the contrast between official/government approaches and those of rave/dance club participants, but also within scholarly work. Scholarship on raves, the dance scenes, and club drugs can be divided into two immensely differing traditions: the epidemiological approach and the cultural studies approach. The epidemiological research has focused primarily on examining the prevalence of club drugs, the problems associated with their use and the characteristics of the users.² The cultural studies approach acts as a much-needed corrective or supplement to the epidemiological research through its introduction of a focus on pleasure, subjectivity, and social context and by more fully attending to youth perspectives. However, the cultural studies scholarship itself has important blind spots, particularly in its underemphasis on the role of drugs within the dance and rave scenes. We will argue for a third approach that utilizes the theoretical and methodological strengths of the cultural studies approach, while combining it with perspectives that allow us to comprehend the role that drugs play within these scenes and the roles of pleasure and risk within them.

Research dichotomies

Contemporary ecstasy and club-drug research

The overall aim of the available epidemiological research in charting drug use and the dance scene has been to assess the prevalence of drug use and “risk factors for addiction, psychological problems which might be treated, or a general and dangerous propensity for antisocial behaviour” (Glassner and Loughlin 1987: 3). More specifically, the extant research has emphasized the problems of using ecstasy and other club drugs, the extent of drug-using behaviors connected with the scene, and the characteristics of the users.

The problems of using ecstasy and other club drugs

First, researchers have examined the potential problems of using ecstasy (MDMA) and other club drugs. For example, in the case of ecstasy, a number of physical and psychological problems have been associated with its use. MDMA can cause psychological problems such as depression, sleep problems, anxiety, and paranoia, and the stimulant effects of MDMA may lead to a significant increase in heart rate and blood pressure, dehydration, hyperthermia, or possible seizures and heart or kidney failure (Dowling 1990; Milroy 1999; National Institute on Drug Abuse 1999). Possible long-term brain damage has also been identified (Asghar and DeSouza 1989; McCann et al. 1998; National Institute on Drug Abuse 1999; Peroutka 1990). Although MDMA is said to be physically non-addictive, users may become psychologically dependent and may subconsciously use the drug as a form of self-medication for underlying disorders (Jansen 1999). Other serious reactions include “hyperthermia, rhabdomyoysis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, renal failure, cardiac complications, intracranial hemorrhage and hepatotoxicity” (Maxwell 2005: 1212; see also Goss 2001; K. M. Smith et al. 2002).

The extent of drug-using behaviors connected with the scene

As many researchers in Australia, Canada, Germany, and the UK have documented, a strong association exists between the dance scene and specific types of drugs, especially ecstasy and methamphetamines (Adlaf and Smart 1997; Boys et al. 1997; Deehan and Saville 2003; Forsyth 1996; Lenton et al. 1997; Measham et al. 2001; Soellner 2005). As Measham and her colleagues note, “the key conclusion to be drawn … is that clubbers are extremely drug-experienced” (2001: 96). Not only did researchers discover that the majority of attendees use drugs at raves and clubs (Akram and Galt 1999; Boys et al. 1997; Ward and Fitch 1998), but also that attendees had a much higher rate of using drugs than non-attendees (Tossmann et al. 2001: 12. See also Adlaf and Smart 1997; Measham et al. 2001). Overall, these studies suggest a strong association between dance events and drug use, and most researchers have argued that increases in the use of club drugs by young adults reflect their increasing involvement in dance events.

Epidemiologists have identified ecstasy as the quintessential drug of the international rave and club scenes. Lenton and colleagues (1997) in Australia discovered that ecstasy was the only drug which was used by more respondents in association with a rave than in any other setting (for similar findings in Britain see Pearson et al. 1991 and Ward and Fitch 1998) and ecstasy rates among ravers and clubgoers are much higher than among youth in the general population (Tossmann et al. 2001: 12). It is not solely ecstasy, though, that epidemiologists have found prevalent in the dance scenes. Research suggests that marijuana may be used more extensively than ecstasy (see for example Tossmann et al. 2001), especially in the stages before and after the event, and high rates of amphetamine and hallucinogen use have also been documented (Van de Wijngaart et al. 1999; Ward and Fitch 1998).

Characteristics of the users: age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality

The age of the users is the first striking and somewhat obvious characteristic. The majority of attendees at dance events are teenagers and young adults, both male and female. From the available research this trend appears generally consistent in different countries, and ecstasy users who attend raves and clubs have some similar characteristics. For example, according to Measham and her colleagues, ravers in the north of England are predominantly young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 (Measham et al. 1998). A number of other studies show that the age range is generally similar, although there may be slight variations in attendees’ average age; studies range from a mean age of attendees of 18.9 in Australia to 24.8 in Berlin (Boys et al. 1997; Calafat et al. 2001).

The gender ratio of the users is the second striking feature to emerge from the research literature. Although no representative surveys have been completed on the gender ratio of attendees at clubs, raves, and parties, researchers have argued that, while men are in the majority in the scene, women are a significant presence. Most studies suggest that the ratio of young men to young women is never greater than 60–40.³ For example, the SONAR project (Calafat et al. 2001) showed an overall dominance of men (approximately 60 percent) but they also discovered that the precise gender ratios varied both from one city to another as well as within different scenes (see also Solowij et al. 1992).

The presence of women within the scene is also reflected in their drug-using behaviors. The fact that attendees at clubs and parties are “drug-experienced” is true for both young women and men. Researchers still tend to find greater male involvement in club drugs among adults (Measham et al. 2001: 101) but young women’s use appears to be increasing, and “the once distinctive difference in the figures between boys and girls is disappearing, with young women being almost as likely to take drugs as young men” (H. Parker et al. 1998: 14). (For more on gender and club drugs see Chapter 9.)

In terms of ethnic characteristics, the research evidence from the national studies suggest that ecstasy users are primarily white. This predominance of white users and attendees has been noted both in the UK and in the US. For example, in the UK Measham and her colleagues (2001), in their sample of over 2,000 clubgoers in Manchester, found that only 5 percent were either Afro-Caribbean or Asian. In the US, Johnston and colleagues (2003), using data from the Monitoring the Future study, found that white high-school seniors were nearly six times as likely to report ecstasy use in the past year as their African American counterparts, and Yacoubian and Urbach, analyzing data from the US NHSDA survey between 1990 and 2001, found that “the use of ecstasy has remained primarily a white phenomenon” (2004: 75). However, there exists some local research that suggests that the ethnic composition of ecstasy users may either be altering or may be determined by geographical location. For example, Schensul and colleagues (2005b) have highlighted the extent to which ecstasy has begun to diffuse to African American and Latino youth in inner urban areas, and in some regions Asian Americans have become a significant presence within the rave and club scenes (as we will examine in Chapter 11).

Another body of research has developed in recent years focusing on sexuality and club drug use, centered particularly on analyses of drug use among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the gay club/party scenes. For example, studies have highlighted higher rates of marijuana, cocaine, and popper use (McKirnan and Peterson 1989), and higher rates of methamphetamine and ketamine among homosexual versus heterosexual drug users in the dance/club scenes (Degenhardt 2005). A particular focus of this research has centered on analysis of the connections between club-drug use (particularly methamphetamine use) and high-risk sexual practices that can lead to HIV transmission. For example, Colfax et al. (2005) found higher rates of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) when MSM were using methamphetamine, poppers, or cocaine; Operario et al. (2006) found significant increases in risky sexual practices associated with frequent substance use, club-drug use, and polydrug use among young MSM; and Celentano et al. (2005) found significant associations between incidents of UAI and being under the influence of alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, and marijuana. The research on MSM drug use, which continues to grow, remains somewhat isolated from other club-drug research, with relatively little cross-citation.

What’s missing from the drug literature?

As is clear from the above discussion, there exists an extensive epidemiological literature on the potential problems with using ecstasy and other drugs, the extent to which drugs are associated with the contemporary dance scene, and the types, the characteristics of the users, and the patterns and combinations of drugs used. While this literature has been particularly important in providing information on the drug-using patterns and the sociodemographic characteristics of the users, it has nevertheless ignored three critically important features: agency, pleasure, and context.

Agency

First, and most important, it has omitted any investigation of young people’s perspective or understanding of their own behaviors (Glassner and Loughlin 1987). “Concern with adolescent drug use … are based on assumptions about the meaning of drugs for potential users whose perspectives are very different from that of adults” (Glassner and Loughlin 1987: 1). The agency of young people is ignored or underemphasized and consequently the vast majority of research has neglected to consider the role or meaning of drugs within the lives of young people, and especially their role within young people’s leisure activities, from the perspective of youth themselves. Young people are viewed within the literature as fundamentally passive, risky, or problematic consumers involved in risky consumption (W. Mitchell et al. 2004).

Pleasure

Second, epidemiological research in focusing on the problematic nature of drug use has ignored the importance of pleasure in drug consumption.⁴ Within this research, primacy has been given to a discourse of pathology, deviance, and problems and “considerations of ‘pleasure’ in relation to drug use” (D. Moore 2008) have been marginalized. This neglect of pleasure and fun from much of the official drug discourse and drug research literature in general is particularly striking when we examine the use of ecstasy and other “club drugs.” In spite of the fact that researchers have christened the clustering of drugs associated with nighttime dance events as “club or party drugs,” the element of pleasure is still absent. It is as though pleasure has become unseeable within much of the research.

[These discourses] tend to remain silent about pleasure as a motive for consumption and raise instead visions of a consumption characterized by compulsion, pain and pathology. Problematic substance use is said to be caused not by pleasure-seeking but by such things as … the “behavioral stimuli” of many current psychological theories of “craving” or by some bodily, social or psychological failing or deficit that pushes people to act “unreasonably.”

(O’Malley and Valverde 2004: 26)

The absence of any significant discourse about pleasure within drug research means that a central component of why both young people and adults use mind-altering substances is ignored. As Parker and his colleagues have remarked, “we need to place … pleasure in the formula. Drugs are used because they give enjoyment” (H. Parker et al. 1998: 133; see Chapter 7 for extensive discussion of pleasure); this seemingly obvious point is missing from much epidemiological drug research. Unfortunately, because drug research focuses solely on the substances themselves and their possible dangers, researchers miss completely the point that the enjoyment of taking these substances is an intrinsic part of enjoying the event, which includes the music, the spectacle, the dancing, and, most important, having fun with friends or lovers. Furthermore, because the pleasure discourse is underdeveloped within epidemiological research, little attention has been focused on the social construction of pleasure. As O’Malley and Mugford have argued, “pleasure is not defined the same way in all societal contexts, nor are all drugs seen as desirable and pleasurable by all people in all cultures at all times” (1991: 51). Furthermore, both the sensory effects of the drugs and the very nature of the pleasures engendered by them vary based on different contexts (Duff 2007).

Context

Finally, the epidemiological literature has also ignored the social context in which young people’s drug use takes place. In focusing solely on the substance itself, researchers have downplayed the importance of studying the use of these substances within a social setting. The club/rave...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I Theory and methods for studying youth
• Part II The global, the national, and the local
• Part III Drug pleasures, risks, and combinations
• Part IV Gender, social context, and ethnicity
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index