DRUG HARM REDUCTION IS THE NEXT 'SAFE SEX'

Most In The Dance Scene Don't Want To Die, But Need To Be Educated

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 more
responsible 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.

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 several
American 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.