The Subculture Debate: The Criminalization of Dance Club Cultures & the Persistence of Ecstasy

Coomber, R., McElrath, K., Measham, F. & Moore, K. (2013) 'Chapter 10: Raves and Circuit Parties’, in Dictionary of Key Concepts in Drugs and Society. London: Sage. pp. 52-55.
• Although not all partygoers take drugs, raves and circuit parties are places where drugs are used, and polydrug usage is common;
• People have used a variety of substances to heighten music and dance throughout history, and music and dancing have also been used to increase the effects of psychoactive drugs;
• The term club drugs replaced the term dance drugs when raves developed into commercial dance events in licensed nightclubs, and drug use was perceived to extend beyond the basic function of allowing prolonged dancing over the course of a weekend;
• The most common and popular club drugs are stimulants and psychostimulants;
• Almost any drug might also be classified as a club drug;
• Rave and circuit parties also cause a potential risk of getting a STI, lik HIV for people who attend them.
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