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One of the last events on the summer concert calendar is the
Electric Zoo Festival. The electronic dance music gathering returns for
its sixth year in New York City this Labor Day weekend. But last year,
the festival was shut down early after two festival-goers died. Both of their deaths were attributed to their consumption of “molly,”
a popular term for a drug that people often assume to contain pure
MDMA, or ecstasy -- but often contains other adulterants and
contaminants as well.
This year, several drug-related deaths have already been reported at EDM concerts and festivals across North America. This month alone, two people died at the VELD Music Festival in Toronto, and two more died at the Mad Decent Block Party in Columbia, Maryland. Two others died in July at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.
In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Missi Wooldridge, executive director at DanceSafe -- an organization that works to promote health and safety within the EDM community -- talks about what Electric Zoo is doing this year to try to prevent fatalities, and about the limits that festivals have when approaching drug education and on-site testing.
DanceSafe is holding a "Zoo Survival Night" on August 28 near Union Square.
This year, several drug-related deaths have already been reported at EDM concerts and festivals across North America. This month alone, two people died at the VELD Music Festival in Toronto, and two more died at the Mad Decent Block Party in Columbia, Maryland. Two others died in July at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.
In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Missi Wooldridge, executive director at DanceSafe -- an organization that works to promote health and safety within the EDM community -- talks about what Electric Zoo is doing this year to try to prevent fatalities, and about the limits that festivals have when approaching drug education and on-site testing.
DanceSafe is holding a "Zoo Survival Night" on August 28 near Union Square.
Interview Highlights:
Missi Wooldridge, on the steps that Electric Zoo is taking to try to prevent fatalities at this year's festival:One thing I've seen that they are implementing are what they're calling "zookeepers," which are a group of medical students who may appear to be a little more identifiable and relatable to the crowd and the population. Often young people who are having difficult experience or are with someone who's having a difficult experience fear going to medical and fear getting in trouble. Having people that are younger and identifiable is a smart decision. They also released a PSA about 'molly' that they are requiring the patrons to watch as well.On the mandatory PSA that Electric Zoo has produced for this year's festival-goers:
I have mixed feelings about it. I commend the promoters for being proactive. I don't think the idea of having all of your attendees watch a video about drug use and health and safety is a negative approach -- I think it's actually a positive approach. [But] I think the spin sensationalizes drug use -- it misrepresents drug use, it encourages stigma. Scare tactics throughout time have proven to be ineffective. One of the most difficult things is, at the end, [his friend] walks away... that sends the opposite message of what we're trying to say. And that's take care of the people around you, get your friends help.On DanceSafe's "harm reduction" principles, and what those include:
Providing accessible free water, providing electrolytes, providing drug checking services, providing honest drug education -- on the effects, the risk, the dosage, the caution with mixing of substances -- and the protective factors. How can you help? How can you be safe? Talking about how to take care of each other and what to do in a difficult situation. Those are all examples of harm reduction services, specific to these settings.On why DanceSafe provides drug checking services, which tests substances on-site for purity:
We never say a drug is "good" or 'bad," or "safe" or "unsafe." What we're really doing is empowering people to make informed decisions. Just by providing a drug checking service doesn't encourage someone to use a substance. People already have a substance that they're intending to take, despite the searches at the front, despite the messages they were getting -- and so just because they come to us and see that a drug checking service is available doesn't mean they're [going to say] "Oh man, I need to go find a drug to check."
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