Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - MDMA Powder, Pills and Crystal: The persistance of ecstasy and the poverty of policy.
AU - Smith, Zoe
AU - Measham, Fiona
AU - Moore, Karenza
N1 - © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Limited, 2009. All righs reserved.
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey suggest that ecstasy use has declined since 2001. This apparent decline is considered here alongside the concurrent emergence of a ‘new’ form of ecstasy - MDMA powder or crystal - and the extent to which this can be seen as a successful rebranding of MDMA as a ‘premium’ product in the wake of user disenchantment with cheap and easily available but poor quality pills. These changes have occurred within a policy context, which in the last decade has increasingly prioritised the drugs-crime relationship through coercive treatment of problem drug users within criminal justice-based interventions, alongside a focus on binge drinking and alcohol-related harm. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the information, support and treatment available to ecstasy users since the height of dance drug harm reduction service provision pioneered by the Safer Dancing model in the mid-1990s.
AB - Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey suggest that ecstasy use has declined since 2001. This apparent decline is considered here alongside the concurrent emergence of a ‘new’ form of ecstasy - MDMA powder or crystal - and the extent to which this can be seen as a successful rebranding of MDMA as a ‘premium’ product in the wake of user disenchantment with cheap and easily available but poor quality pills. These changes have occurred within a policy context, which in the last decade has increasingly prioritised the drugs-crime relationship through coercive treatment of problem drug users within criminal justice-based interventions, alongside a focus on binge drinking and alcohol-related harm. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the information, support and treatment available to ecstasy users since the height of dance drug harm reduction service provision pioneered by the Safer Dancing model in the mid-1990s.
KW - Ecstasy
KW - ecstasy pills
KW - MDMA powder
KW - MDMA crystal
KW - harm reduction
KW - Safer Dancing
KW - recreational drug use
KW - poly drug repertoires
M3 - Journal article
VL - 9
SP - 13
EP - 19
JO - Drugs and Alcohol Today
JF - Drugs and Alcohol Today
SN - 1745-9265
IS - 1
ER -