Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2001)
b________ Feature WedNEsdAy, M arcñ 14, 2001 The CI ac I camas P rínt OANCINö: Drug testing offered for ravers' safety TAM OLIVER A&E Editor The sign at right explains what it means if a person's pill tests posi tive for the drug ecstasy. DanceSafe, “a nonprofit, harm reduction organization promoting health and safety within the rave and nightclub community,” of- A fers drug testing services to /I promoters of raves, which includes testing any pillsy brought into their events.*" In some cities, the police welcome their services. Using trained volunteers, DanceSafe follows strict protocols to attempt to minimize damage caused by ingesting pills contain ing ingredients other than ecstasy (MDA, MDMA, MDE or a combi nation). Additionally, strict paper work is kept to help trace pills that later are re ported as causing ad verse reactions. People at events such as raves can have a quick analysis (drug screening) done on their pills to know whether or not their drug is really ecstasy. After the pill is given to the DanceSafe volunteer, the name of the pill is recorded on a log sheet along with color, size, measurement by calipers, logos and whether or not the pill was bought inside or they note how many points are on it. This is to help identify drugs that are copycats in the event of a later problem with the drug. A tiny bit of the pill is scraped off for testing. The drug is always returned to the person before the testing is performed. This is to pre vent the tester from being charged This test produced a normal reaction. This means this pill does contain some real Ecstasy. (either MDMA, MDA, MDE or a combination) with dispensing a It does NOT mean the pill is “pure.” Promoting health and safety within the rave and nightclub community. outside the event. If the pill was purchased from inside the event, the pill owner is further cautioned that statistically, pills sold within events have a greater probability of being fake. After having the person read the sign, the tester receives the pill and does the paperwork. In addition to the written measurements and de scriptions, the tester _ __ sketches both the front and back of the pill. It is important to note if it is scored. If the logo is a crown, drug known to be ecstasy. DanceSafe is careful only to re port the test result and explain what these results mean. If the drug has a reaction indicating that it is DXM, a cough syrup ingredient that has been passed off as ecstacy, DanceSafe tells the pill owner all (There could be something else in it.) It does NOT mean the pill is “safe.” (No drug is completely safe, even if it is pure.) It does NOT tell you how much is in the pill. (There could be a lot or a little. You never know.) they know about the adverse reac tions that have come from ingest ing this drug. They also explain that DXM feels nothing like MDMA. They don’t say a pill is “bad” to avoid the risk of being misunder stood to imply that an other pill is OK. They just give straight facts. Pqople having pills Rk tested are requested to report any ad verse reactions they have from the drug. If there is a bad lot of drugs circulating, this en- i ables the police to * issue warnings to other recreational drug us ers. Different DJ's, different styles, different world DARREL HOBSON Sports Editor Rave dances are becoming more popular than ever with teens and young adults. The high-energy dance music and bright lights have attracted the attention of a new generation of young people all across America. Raves have had such an im pact that owners of night clubs and mobile DJ services have had to make critical decisions about how to run their busi ness as the rave culture creeps its way into the main stream. “We don’t have a policy against doing raves, it’s just that we don’t train our DJ’s to mix the rate style of music,” said Chad Dowling, owner of Ultimate Entertainment, the Northwest’s largest mobile DJ service. Dowling went on to say there is a difference between mobile or if 1 have done any raves,” DJ’s and club DJ’s. “We play said Ultimate DJ Jake Roberts. Ultimate Entertainment ad- top 40, R&B, rap and old favor ites for publicr schools, wed dings and private parties, where club and rave DJ’s play house or techno beats.” Another thing that worries Dowling about doing raves is safety. There is no way to in sure the safety and security of mits that they have added more house and techno songs to their library due to the large number of requests they have received in the last few months. A n - For many years, teens have frequently appeared at the week for young people. Thurs day is retro night, Friday and Sat Quest, a 16 and older club lo- cated downtown. For the first urday is current dance hits, Monday is karaoke night and Tuesday is Latin dance night. time, the Quest has substantial competition, There are club-s such All these clubs are under age facilities and do not allow alco hol. They check kids at the door r drugs and weapons as well. Some of these clubs, like Ground Zero, are providing a safe al ternative to raves, while others are just making money on a trend the equipment and the DJ at a rave party. Ultimate has never been con tracted to do a rave party and probably will never be asked because it is not their target market. However, the impact in the company has been felt. DJ’s at Ultimate claim that most students commonly re quest techno music and bring glow sticks, necklaces and glow gum to the high school dances. “I get middle school kids ask ing me if I will play rave music trend i nigh c 1 u has come up that may be related to ■ the popularity of. raves. New dance clubs have opened up ail over Portland that target the young dance crowd. The Z is a brand new club that just.opened that has three floors, all with different music. as the Onyx dance club for teens, which is on 82 Ave. and Ground Zero in Gresham, which is smoke, drug and alco- hoi free and offers activities all that is hot. thing is for sure, One raves are not just underground secret parties anymore. It’s a cul ture of young people that is be ginning to change the businesses world.
