Author: Cordelia Kenney
Have you seen Molly? That is apparently the question on everyone’s mind these days. Virtually all major news outlets have an arrest warrant with her – and electronic dance music’s (EDM) – name on it. Following the deaths of two young adults in connection to the chemical compound MDMA, other wise known as molly, the organizers of one the country’s largest EDM festivals, Electric Zoo, recently canceled the entirety of the third day’s scheduled performers. Many people have unfairly linked EDM to rampant drug use. True, like many youth-oriented cultural phenomenons, some people decide to use drugs at EDM events. But rather than affirming or succumbing to the quick judgments of the media, the EDM community should adopt and practice an ethos of education, awareness and compassion.
EDM and its associated “rave culture” have entered the mainstream, most visibly with the increasing popularity of massive music festivals including Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Ultra, for example, has become massively popular since its beginnings in 2005, drawing a combined 330,000 people over two weekends this past March, according to Forbes.
The two deaths attributed to an overdose of “molly” at Electric Zoo – in addition to mortalities at a Zedd concert in Boston and Hard Summer in Los Angeles, among a number of others – are by no means the first time people have abused drugs in the presence of music. To equate molly use with EDM is to perpetuate an unfair and inaccurate stereotype; music of all genres and drugs of all kinds have been intertwined since humans first put hand to drum. EDM, which encompasses an intensely rich and varied spectrum of genres, including house, trance, dubstep and hardstyle, has been evolving since the 1980s, and it would be more than a little naive to think that a subset of ravers did not partake in substance use – and abuse – then as they do now.
Synthesized in the early 20th century by Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, MDMA has been experimented with as a component of therapy for mentally distressed patients. MDMA floods the brain with serotonin and dopamine: two neurotransmitters that influence a person’s mood. Generally, MDMA induces a sense of euphoria, increases sociability and reduces anxiety. Possible negative side effects range from less severe – nausea, exhaustion and dehydration – to more severe, including heart failure, hypothermia and in rare cases, death. MDMA increases people’s temperatures, their heart rate and blood pressure and can cause digestive distress. That is why the festival environment is particularly dangerous for someone who is “rolling.” Spending three straight days in the sun with limited access to water (in some cases) can have toxic results.
Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Halpern has been exploring the possibility of treating patients who have PTSD or terminal cancer with MDMA and has not found a connection between the drug and decreased brain function, according to an article published in the New York Times on June 21. “A drug that actually does kill brain cells — which MDMA doesn’t — is alcohol,” Halpern said. But that is irrelevant to this conversation because realistically, no one is buying or ingesting pure MDMA. On account of its illicit status, MDMA, just like ecstasy, can contain any number of manufactured chemicals and almost certainly was cooked up in questionable – and definitely unreliable – conditions.
According to the same article, the number of MDMA-related emergency-room visits have doubled since 2004. Most coverage of these deaths is problematic, though, because MDMA-related deaths and injuries comprise a minuscule fraction of total deaths related to drug and alcohol use. In another New York Times article, city health officials reported that “from 2000 to 2011, there were 43 deaths from ecstasy, compared with 4,676 cocaine overdoses and 4,151 heroin overdoses [in New York City].”
The staff of a popular EDM news website, EDMTunes.com, came together to assess the problem and look for solutions. In their article, they offer a three-pronged approach to reducing fatalities at EDM events. First, promoters must demonstrate enhanced responsibility and accountability. The sheer scale and size of EDM festivals necessitates better access to water, more Emergency Medical Technicians on the grounds and clearly marked medical facilities. Secondly, concertgoers need more comprehensive and accurate education concerning drugs. Lastly, promoters and attendees alike must change the festival mindset to make the experience revolve around community and “musical discovery,” rather than drug use.
If ravers do decide to roll, they should make sure to take breaks to cool off, drink water (don’t chug!), avoid energy drinks and caffeine, not mix drugs and alcohol and know that it is always okay to ask for help. Most importantly, never buy drugs at a festival. Dancesafe.org provides cheap, accurate reagent test kits that can help those who decide to roll have a better chance at safety by knowing what they are ingesting.
The bottom line is that regardless of genre or size of event, some people make the decision to take drugs, and safety promotion and education is the only way to decrease mortality. What much of the coverage misses is the reality that not everyone at an EDM event does drugs because that is not what EDM is about. As EDM juggernaut Kaskade said, “EDM is the [music culture] who will accept … the ones who feel like they may not quite fit in. This community is exceptional in its ability to bond all types together, and I am not exaggerating when I say it saves lives.”
Our collective response should not be to blame rave culture and shut down EDM festivals, but to educate concertgoers and promote a culture of safety and compassion. Just as abstinence-only education increases teen pregnancy rates, the United States’ attitude towards drugs – “just say no” – denies the reality that some people who go to music festivals of any kind choose to use drugs. A mindset like this will only lead to more young lives cut short.
Cordelia Kenney is a senior History major. She can be reached at ckenney@oxy.edu or on Twitter at @WklyOpinions.
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