POPPER MANIA

I landed up at what I thought was going to be the best night of my life.
Instead, I wondered why and how do people enjoy such activities. Thinking
that Rave parties were cool was my biggest mistake. It was a comedy show
throughout...

'Rave for Dummies' reads his blog which takes the uninitiated on a trip into
Urban India's ongoing mega-party where Acid trips are the in-thing and XTC
is the ABC of new age masti.

"I went there hoping for some naked girls but there weren't any!!! No
sphagetti tops, no mini skirts. They were dressed in psychedelic lungis,"
confesses the disillusioned lotus-eater. "There's this fundamental truth:
It's easier to run from a police raid in your loose shorts than in a slinky
tight number with high heels," he enlightens.

So what do we have here? An urban daze that may spill over into a police
raid. And if it doesn't, you'd end up feeling something like this...
Spelling out the characteristics of a Raver, our sources tell us the
following:

- You can understand and have amazing conversations with anyone under the
age of 10. - You hug everyone, even the guy with B.O. (that's the Hug Pill
working). - You have sleeping patterns that will kill a normal person. - You
can't see your shoes. - You can instantly fall into blissful sleep on a
cold, wet, concrete floor surrounded by 300 people with pounding Trance
being played overhead. - Your tongue feels like a five-year-old wearing a
size 10 pair of shoes and your hair feels like a candle in the wind.

Welcome to night-out, new-age ishtyle... happening do's across cosmo India:
Anguna, Vagator beaches in Goa, Koregaon Park in Pune, Madh Island in Mumbai
and the Mehrauli farmhouses in Delhi.

If you thought Woodstock was over in the 1970s, you've got it all wrong. For
India is Tripping all over again. Then, they christened the LSD trip Pink
Sunshine of California or Blue Windowpanes. Today, they call it Internet
Explorer, Queen's Necklace and Diamonds in the Sky.

And for those party-goers seeking sexual nirvana, even the smell of danger
is welcome: Party-poppers, Snapper, Locker, Rush, Bullet - all being sold
under the counter, even though amyl nitrite is a discontinued heart
medication since it pops up the blood pressure too. To dangerous levels.

A politically correct India may have turned its back to hard drugs but the
party drug scene is popping, as is the collegiates' voyage of discovery with
inhalants: gases, glues, aerosols, cough syrups.

Corex has become an intrinsic part of Pune's growing youth culture where
youngsters are known to gulp down entire bottles for an instant high. Also
on the rise is alcoholism amongst youngsters, says Mukta Puntambekar,
director of a de-addiction centre.

Over the last three years the number of patients admitted has almost doubled
and the most common problem amongst the younger patients is alcoholism and a
debilitating addiction to codeine-based cough syrups (Phensydyl, Corex) and
sleeping pills, she says.

For Delhi , the buzzword is Grass (marijuana) and Glass (Speed). "Grass is a
regular at our parties; we don't even consider it as doing drugs," says
Manish (36), a corporate banker. "It's the usual party scene for the
high-earning, high-stress crowd: young MNC executives and professionals," he
says. Where do you get it? "Almost everywhere," say regulars. "For Rs 50 a
pouch, in the small little shanty shop across swanky high-rise apartments,
jhuggis and from people within."

For the jet-setting crowd - they call them the Versace & Christian Dior
crowd - there is the Rave mailing list which sends out regular invites to
Rave parties where Candy (cocaine), Sugar Cubes (Acid), Speed and Ecstasy
flow faster than the bloodstream.

Every Friday night, Pam (Parminder by day) joins Jack aka Jaspal and her
Ecstasy friends to have some Glass (Speed) and Adam (Ecstasy) in a swinging
pub. "We are on a roll," she says. "It's so wild, everyone's out to rock!"

Mumbai has its designer drug scene too, where the Rave party set is willing
to pay Rs 3,000 for a gram of cocaine and Rs 800 for a pill of Ecstasy. But
insiders tell us that old-fashioned charas and ganja have now made it to the
upper-middle class unwind scene.

As for Bangalore : it's popping 'dots' or doing 'hits' (Acid and Ecstasy).
"It is restricted largely to farm and Rave parties on the outskirts; drugs
are circulated amongst small groups, mostly as week-end recreation," says an
insider.

The International Scene

Every country has its own drug culture. Whether you are straight-edge or
alcoholic, a weekend taker or a Colombian druglord, the following is a
sample of the many different drug cultures the world has to offer...

It's a big 'No' to drugs in the US which has been waging a relentless war
against this illegal trade.

Europe gives us the entire spectrum of drug laws. Compared to the US , most
of Europe 's drug policies continue to grow more and more lenient.

The UK 's legal battle with drugs is similar to the US . It has a far more
severe regime of control over possession offences than most other European
countries. However, UK is more active than the US in considering the
possible medicinal applications of marijuana, and is expected to make a
decision sometime next year.

In France and Belgium , a typical punishment for possession is a mere
warning. Although the police may be gentle towards a marijuana user, they
have little mercy for harder drug users and dealers.

If France and Belgium dabble, the Netherlands is throwing the party, being
the only nation in the world where you can walk into a coffee-house and
purchase an eighth with your cappuccino. Hard drugs are, however, officially
illegal in the Netherlands , and offenders are heavily prosecuted.

Not quite as lenient as the Netherlands , both Spain and Portugal have their
own unique outlook on drugs. Drug users are viewed as people with a medical
condition, one that is in need of treatment. Officially, both cannabis and
heroin are de-penalized substances.

Sweden is unique: It wants to be known as a drug-free nation and favours
strict rules and strong police tactics. The Swedish Rave Commission is the
only culture police in the western world. A branch of the Stockholm Police
Force, its mission is to reduce the widespread use of drugs among youth in
the Stockholm area.

East Asia is militant in their active opposition of drug use. Trying to
sneak drugs into most of them is a good way to find yourself hung or in jail
for an extremely long time. Singapore takes the lead: death penalty for
anyone over 18 possessing a certain amount of drugs; cane lashes and three
years in prison for carrying any amount of cannabis.

Malaysia ranks with Turkey and Singapore among the three strictest nations
in the world in terms of drug laws.

Unlike most nations in the West, Japan does not discourage public
drunkenness. Also, you can pick up magic mushrooms - a class A narcotic -
from the streets. It's legal to sell magic mushrooms so long as you call
them mushrooms.