In James C. McKinley Jr.’s article, “Giving Drug Advice Along With Music”, he discusses the new approach being implemented at the TomorrowWorld festival that begins this Friday, September 27. A nonprofit drug education group will be holding sessions on controlling drug usage and preventing over doses. This is a response to the recent deaths that occurred at Electric Zoo and other dance festivals.
We’re living in a generation where concerts are associated with such intense drug usage, and it’s producing “negative publicity” that is potentially hurting the industry, which makes me personally wonder… Since when has doing drugs become such a crucial part of the concert experience?
The article mentions that these safety measures are something that has already been commonplace for some time in Europe, which proves that once again, America lags behind in caring for the health of its youth. The reason for that probably has largely to do with the “zero tolerance for drugs” policy at these events. Obviously, they don’t do an efficient job of enforcing that policy, so I think the important aspect to focus on is accepting the wide range of drug use and working to regulate it and educate the youth on how to minimize putting people’s lives at risk. It’s too late to be in denial and more effective to provide resources, such as rehabilitation centers that will benefit those who have been harmed. Obviously hearing “drugs are bad… don’t do drugs” hasn’t stopped many. The effective solution is to start saying “ don’t mix drugs with alcohol… don’t do more than this amount… etc.”
In the article Missi Woolridge, the president of the DanceSafe Board, mentions that providing information on drugs can save lives, just like providing information on sex has prevented many from STDs and AIDS. I think it’s important to look at the analogy of the promotion of safe sex. No one says “don’t have sex”, but instead we are educated to have safe sex and take precautionary measures. Much like this, we need to start having informative drug sessions across the nation. Lack of awareness is one of the issues raised and the deaths at Electric Zoo finally caught the nation’s attention. We all heard about those losses, but this isn’t the first time people have died from overdosing at concerts. We only hear about the big news and the big festivals, but this actually happens from time to time at smaller concerts as well.
I’ve personally witnessed our generation give in to the trap of not only substances that alter your state of mind, but also deteriorate the brain. These drugs can cause irreparable damage and because many kids have a false sense of invincibility they refuse to accept that, so they end up engaging in behaviors that can potentially end their lives. Most kids have lost motivation to work hard and be productive, slimming their chances of graduating high school, getting a college degree, and ultimately finding a job. So I fully support these information sessions and even if they only change a small percentage of minds it will make a difference.
Source:
McKinley Jr., James C. “Giving Drug Advice Along With Music” New York Times. 25 September 2013. Web. 25 September 2013.
Since when has doing drugs become such a crucial part of the concert experience?- I have an answer for you. One word. Woodstock.
But in all seriousness I do not see the association everyone makes with concerts and doing drugs. You go to a techno music concert I can guarantee that above 50% of the people there are on drugs. If you go to a rap concert, you are going to smell something the whole time. Its kind of sad people cannot let music experience be the trip, and feel the need to be “tripping” during it. I feel it takes away from the entire event and is disrespectful to the people that put hundreds, if not thousands of hours into their work for your entertainment, and you will not even remember half the performance. And the world we live in where people die at concerts like electric zoo and people have the NERVE to complain it gets cancelled is just sick(I saw people I do not like on facebook complaining about the cancellation…) Its just ridiculous and I think something needs to change. The musicians need to present themselves in a new way, influence the people to take life as it is, and not try to “enhance” it. Great article and analysis!
I don’t remember who said it, but someone once said that adults harp on and on about the dangers of drugs and make them sound like the most evil thing in the world–but when kids actually try a drug, like marijuana, they find that the reality of drug use often doesn’t match up with what they’ve been told their whole lives. As a result, they think the same could be true of other drugs, and that’s where the problem begins.
With that in mind, I think it makes a lot of sense to approach “drug education” in a similar way to sex education. Numerous studies have shown that kids who receive proper sex education delay having sex and make better decisions about sex regarding birth control, among various other things. Why wouldn’t the same be true with drugs? Why wouldn’t a teenager be more likely to avoid drug use if they were taught about it more thoroughly than just “drugs are bad”?
Obviously, I’m not promoting drug use, but drugs, like sex, seem like one of those things that people are going to do whether you’ve taught them about it or not. An “abstinence only”-style approach only serves to shroud the discussion with mystery and misinformation, as well as lend it that irresistible aura of the forbidden. Instead of promoting a “drugs are always bad no matter what” approach, I think that being frank about the fact that one puff of a joint isn’t going to turn you into a homeless drug addict would serve to rid drugs of their forbidden allure. By making drugs seem less mysterious and exciting, and more mundane and part of every life (while still emphasizing the dangers of using them), I think we could cut back on the problem with kids using them in all situations.
I completely agree. Sometimes it feels like we’re all in denial when it comes to very racy topics such as alcohol, drugs, or mental therapy. There is a stigma throughout America where it is either horrible or greatly laughed at if you are part of one or any of these communities. I wish it would change because many people go around thinking some things are okay when they really aren’t or they go around thinking something is not okay when it really is. This is the perfect example because we go around teaching adolescents about not trying or doing anything because it could be the worst decision of their lives. Instead we should not hold such things to such high levels of restriction. We are in our rebellious years anyway and what’s a better way to rebel than doing what’s most restricted. Personally, I grew to a family that drinks alcohol during celebrations and was always given some in order to be part of the family. Whereas some parents would tell their children that they should never drink until they are 21 or that they should never do it unless an adult is around, my parents taught me that it’s okay to drink alcohol, but I have to learn about my limits and I should stop drinking once I felt I wasn’t all there. My parents gave me that privilege because if I never touched alcohol until I was 21, and then began drinking like an addict I could potentially doing something really stupid which would have been prevented if only I thought of alcohol as something less stringent.
I think it’s extremely upsetting that we’ve arrived at the point where we have to educate our youth on how to properly use drugs such as MDMA. However, given the failure of our education system and government to educate and implement ways to inform teenagers on drugs (eg. the dangers that arise from usage) and in turn, prevent them from using drugs then we must turn to other methods. By teaching teenagers how to not overdose, the “right” amount to take, and the intervals in between each hit (eg. four times a year for MDMA) we can prevent deaths such as the recent ones at Electric Zoo from happening. Because the truth is, no matter how much we preach about the dangers of drugs there will always be those who are still going to try it. We must inform that portion of the public of the dangers of “reckless” drug usage but keep in mind that we are not condoning widespread use. For instance, at TommorowWorld there were no hitches with drug-related incidents. The event advertised a zero-tolerance towards drugs, had strict security, and didn’t admit anybody under 21. That wasn’t to say that MDMA wasn’t rampant but it wasn’t as widespread and people who did use it were smart about it. One user stated that once someone knows the precautions nothing should go wrong 9http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/arts/music/at-a-festival-molly-danced-but-didnt-cut-in.html?_r=0).
I think it’s interesting that you bring up the debate over STDs, because it’s true – everyone knows that people will have sex anyway so they might as well educate and protect the masses instead of banning sex. I think it’s also true that whereas people might be doing drugs, they aren’t educated on it. Even at a festival after Electric Zoo, there were drugs present and not mild ones at that, “Which is not to say that drugs didn’t get inside. Several fans estimated that at least half the festival goers were using some sort of drug, mainly Molly, an MDMA-based drug that’s illegal and sometimes mixed with hallucinogens like LSD.” This was during a festival known as TomorrowWorld. So even after ElectricZoo and as my article states, marked “seven deaths at dance events around the country since March”, drugs were still a big part of these events. I think it is great that more people are trying to bring awareness and educated people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/arts/music/at-a-festival-molly-danced-but-didnt-cut-in.html?_r=0
I think the problem is a culture that revolves around drugs and alcohol. Several articles (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-28/news/sns-rt-us-usa-drugs-molly-20130928_1_molly-electric-zoo-music-festival) I’ve read about molly and these electric music festivals note that many popular music icons have references to the drugs in their music. Drugs and alcohol are common references in music so its only natural that the people who listen to the music are engaged in drugs and/or alcohol. The article attached cites case after case of people overdosing, as well as the hundred-fold increase in MDMA (actual drug known as Molly) related emergency room visits. I agree that we should be educating young kids about drug overdosing but at the same time we should encourage a culture were drug use is not necessary to enjoy these festivals. What’s the point if you have to be high out of your mind to enjoy these shows. Especially drugs like MDMA or molly which are just one tier down from LSD and ecstasy. The harmfulness of some drugs is debatable, but for these, with all the deaths and incidents related to it, the evidence is overwhelming. If we can’t slowly remove this culture of drug use or drug abuse, we should at least try to phase out these clearly harmful drugs.