Welcome to Issue #6 of the DanceSafe E-News. This is the first issue of the E-News produced by our new volunteer editorial staff, with input from all of our chapters around the country. During the last few months, like many dot-coms, we have had to adapt to the Naqdaq Crash. A key difference, however, and the reason we are still thriving on a budget less than one tenth of last years, is because we started utilizing our greatest resource of all: the volunteers of our local chapters.

During the last four months we have been busy re- structuring DanceSafe in order to become a more participatory and decentralized national organization. Administrative duties that used to be done by paid staff have been taken on by volunteers around the country, and our physical office in Oakland has been cast aside in favor of a "virtual office," consisting of a private, Administrative BSS where members of our local chapters communicate over the internet to manage national projects like the website and the E-News you are now reading.

In this issue we have the newest update from the New Orleans Case, first-person reviews of our 2nd annual conference in New Mexico, an introduction to Karl Jansen's new ketamine book written by our Emanuel Sferios, DanceSafe's founder and current National Director, an account of our Salt Lake City chapter's amazing rebuttal to local anti-rave hysteria, and much more.

We hope the long wait was worth it. Welcome back DanceSafe E-News!

Thanks everyone, The E-News Staff

1. Salt Lake Chapter Holds Parents Forum to Counter Anti-Rave Hysteria

On April 18, 2001, the Salt Lake Awareness Project (a service of the Intermountain Harm Reduction Project and the Utah chapter of Dancesafe), held a forum for parents and their children who rave at our City and County Building. The forum was in response to local hysteria around raving, which included the ban of "rave paraphenelia" (such as beaded jewelry, glowsticks, and masks) from high schools around the state, and a meeting targeted at educating parents about the evils of club drugs and raves. Shockingly enough, members of the rave community were denied access to this meeting, which was put on by local law enforcement.

Instead of getting angry, we organized a "Ravers Task Force", which consisted of about 20 members of the late night community and brainstormed ideas to help improve the scene's image with the media and the community. One of our best ideas was an open dialogue between ravers and parents, where ravers would share honestly about their experiences and answer questions from parents. The meeting was done in a panel format, with all of the rave culture represented. From security to DJs to ravers we proved that not everyone who goes is under 21. We all spoke on why we raved and how the culture had changed our lives. The meeting went extremely well, with parents voicing concerns about the rave scene and us being able to settle their fears about different issues. Many of the parents in attendance had been to a rave themselves, lending credibility to what the panel was saying. One parent voiced concerns about medical staff present to keep attendees safe, and security assured him that most events have licensed medical staff, and (at the very least) SLAP is CPR trained and knows exactly how to handle overdose and other emergency situations. It proved to be an educational night for everyone who attended, and we plan on using the model again with continued success.

We've found that SLAP has gone so far because we have the immediate support of the Intermountain Harm Reduction Project, which does harm reduction with nearly every marginalized population in Utah. Having their day-to-day support has allowed us to evolve much more quickly than if we were without it.

For more coverage on this event, check out: http://www.avenews.com/editorial/no/cw/city/city_2_010503.cfm or http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,270014493,00.html

2. Partial Settlement in New Orleans Case; But Donnie Refuses to Accept Plea Bargain

(This E-News update provided by the EMDEF.)

The fight in New Orleans continues as Donnie Estopinal opts out of a plea agreement offered by the Federal Government. Robert and Brian Brunet accepted a plea agreement which protects them from any criminal prosecution, and which includes a fine to New Orleans Barbecue, Inc. of $100,000. Though given a chance to accept the plea, Donnie instead chose to defend his innocence. It remains to be seen whether a Federal Grand Jury will indict Donnie under the Federal Crackhouse Statute. The January indictment issued earlier this year was retracted when the Brunet's and Estopinal challenged the charges.

In Panama City Beach, FL., Club La Vela, America's largest nightclub, was indicted under two counts of the Federal Crackhouse Statute. The club's owners, Patrick and Thorsten Pfeffer, were also indicted with two counts. The indictment includes a criminal forfeiture clause, allowing the government to proceed in an asset seizure of all properties believed to be related to criminal profits. The government's argument is that the Pfeffer brothers and corporation knowingly and intentionally made their property available for the sale and use of controlled substances, and therefore their properties are subject to seizure.

The Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (EMDEF) is raising funds for Donnie to continue his fight against the Federal Government. EMDEF also has extensive legal documents which should serve to assist any nightclub owner, or party promoter, in knowing their rights. The interpretation of the law is still vague at this point as this is the first time the federal government has applied the crack house law against venue managers and promoters.

Visit the EMDEF web-site at http://www.emdef.org

3. New Lab Results Raise Concerns over Rising Number of Fake Pills

Recent results coming in from DanceSafe's laboratory pill analysis program, viewable at http://www.dancesafe.org/currentresults.html, suggest that the illicit ecstasy market in the US is becoming more and more of a market for ecstasy substitutes. The overall percentage of fake pills has been increasing, as well as the number of pills containing multiple-drug combinations. In April, for example, we received one pill from LA containing five drugs: MDMA, Caffeine, Ketamine, Methamphetamine and MDA, and another from San Francisco containing Ketamine, Caffeine, MDMA, Ephedrine, DXM and methamphetamine.

Six psychoactive substances in one tablet sets a world's record that the US should not be proud to have earned. While it is unlikely that many of these brown tablets with a question mark (?) stamped on them are floating around, the fact even one of them has been made reveals the dangers of an unregulated market. Schedule One offers the ecstasy consumer no protection while at the same time it creates the ideal condition for fake pills, which are often far more dangerous than pure MDMA. (Of course we all know no drug use is completely safe.)

Three new pills have surfaced in Europe that contain PMA and are not the typical white or off-white Mitsubishi tablets that have killed over 15 people so far in the US. One is a crumbly, red Mitsubishi, one has a large capital "E" on it, and another has a "Superman" logo on it. None of these new PMA tablets have shown up in the US, at least not yet, as far as we know.

To see pictures of the new PMA tablets go to the DanceSafe home page at: http://www.dancesafe.org

4. How to Count
by Tonne Serah, Ph.D

A common complaint about the night life- whether you go to klubs or raves-is that the great connections you can make when you're partying don't carry over into "real" life. And it's true, party friendships can be shallow. But when you go out dancing as much as I do, you can end up sharing an lot of experiences with your fellow party-ers and becoming good friends in the process.

That's the way it is with my friend Daniel. I've never seen him in daylight! But we've spent a lot of time together under the mirror ball and gotten to know each other pretty well. A while ago he surprised me by offering to join volunteers from DanceSafe and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence when we pass out health, safety, and drug information at San Francisco klubs. Of course, it was great having him along. But I was curious-what made him willing to take time out from partying to join us?

So I sent him an e-mail one day and asked him. What he wrote back is so cool that I want to share it with you. Here's Daniel, in his own words:

"Why do I do it you ask? Well, the first time I did it because I like you a lot and you asked for some help. And if you won't help your friends when they ask for it, then what kind of person are you anyway?

"Then, after reading about DanceSafe and thinking about my personal club experiences and with all that is happening in this city alone about clubs being shut down because of the drug misuse, and after a very personal experience with a friend's accidental misuse, it feels important to me to try to help out DanceSafe. Sure, not everyone came over to the table at the last BUMP, but maybe we helped one person learn that he shouldn't take G doses too often and saved his life that night. And that's a difference, no matter how small.

"Even more broadly, I care about people. Seeing someone carried out or being put in an ambulance is sad and hurts me. Especially now that I'm trying to educate people. Last BUMP when I saw that boy loaded into the ambulance, I just thought, man, I wish we could have been able to educate that boy or just get a flyer in his hand. I realize that there will always be people that just don't give a flying fuck about what they're doing to themselves no matter how much info you give them, but it's still sad.

"As I have met more and more people, I've seen some of them start dosing on whatever for the first time. And not in safe ways. Most of them don't even know what the drugs are that they are taking. I personally feel that if you're going to swallow a pill (or any substance), you should have some knowledge of what it's doing to your body besides, "It makes me feel good." Why would a person not want to know what they are ingesting and what it does to their bodies? It goes back to something I said in an earlier email. These klub boyz/girlz just don't care enough about themselves to want to be educated about how they are possibly hurting themselves. Is the high worth it to not know that you may be really fucking yourself up because you're uneducated?

"To me it's not. And I think that it shouldn't be to anyone. That's why education seems like a great idea to me. If people will educate themselves, they'll know what not to do, what to do, and they can then make an educated decision on whether this high is worth the potential risks. Plus, I'm just sick and tired of those dumb boyz making the rest of us look bad by dropping on the floor and being whisked away in a flurry of sirens and lights—and no, I'm not talking about the technobeams in the club! " - Daniel

If you care about the people you party with help us educate them about staying safe and healthy when they dance. It sounds corny, but it only takes a couple hours to really make a difference.

Originally published by www.klubz.com on May 23, 2001. Tonne Serah, Ph.D. is a long-time San Francisco author, activist, and party boy. E-mail him at partywise@klubz.com.

5. Ketamine: Dreams and Realities: The Introduction to Karl Jansen's New Book on K

INTRODUCTION
by Emanuel Sferios

The human desire to alter consciousness through the use of psychoactive drugs is as old as recorded history. Like music and dance, the ingestion of mind altering substances is a universal and cross- cultural human behavior. The potential benefits of psychoactive compounds to the individual and society are recognized by many. Indigenous cultures integrated the use of psychoactive plants within their spiritual or religious institutions, and modern users of psychedelic or entheogenic compounds often report spiritual, therapeutic and recreational benefits from their use. The interdisciplinary field of "consciousness studies" also recognizes that the investigation of drug-induced altered states allows for a better understanding of human awareness.

At the same time, there is no doubt that psychoactive drugs can be harmful. The wide availability and illicit marketing of drugs like LSD, MDMA and ketamine as "party drugs" to mostly young people presents significant public health and drug policy challenges. Tragically, young people are poorly informed about the real risks of using these drugs, and of ways to minimize those risks. This is largely the result of alarmist and ineffectual anti-drug programs like D.A.R.E., which pass for "drug education" in many schools across the United States.

Despite extraordinarily expensive and repressive efforts over the last several decades to prohibit illicit drug use, the number of addicts and serious abusers has not significantly declined. The increasingly militaristic and punitive nature of the "War on Drugs" policy has swelled the prison population in the United States to an unprecedented two million incarcerated. About four hundred thousand of these prisoners have been convicted of non-violent drug offenses. Most current drug abuse prevention and education efforts rely on overly simplistic abstention messages. However, catch-phrases like "just say no" and "winners don't use drugs" have been unsuccessful at preventing drug use among youth, their primary target audience.

The Internet, as well, has increased popular awareness of the psychoactive nature of many lesser-known compounds that were previously known and used only by those relatively few people who found out about them directly through word of mouth. This popular exposure has dramatically increased demand for these substances, generating a "lay" market that was virtually non-existent a decade ago. As a result, more people are exposed to a greater variety of psychoactive drugs than ever before, and perceive few opportunities to obtain information that they can trust is fair and accurate. At the same time, internet websites that provide truthful information on these drugs, including harm reduction information, are often blocked by libraries and school administrators.

As the director of a harm reduction organization working with youth, this reminds me of on an incident I witnessed at a dance party in Oakland, California where a young woman was walking around with a snorting spoon offering "bumps of K" to anyone who wanted one. A young man, already feeling the effects of the MDMA he had taken earlier, asked "What's K?"

Her response was simply, "It's called Special K. It's really fun. It makes you feel all dreamy and floaty." She held up the spoon.

"Cool," he said, and snorted the white powder.

Incidents like this take place every weekend in bars, nightclubs and house parties around the world. Whether we condemn as irresponsible those who haphazardly ingest drugs they know nothing about, or see this as the normal behavior of novelty-seeking youth in a consumer culture that promotes instant gratification, one thing is certain: psychoactive drugs are not going away. The availability and popular use of drugs like ketamine will in all likelihood continue to increase during the coming decades. This is why the book you are now holding is so important.

With the publication of _Ketamine: Dreams and Realities_, Dr. Karl Jansen has provided the first authoritative and comprehensive analysis of ketamine written in layperson's terms. As I have witnessed personally again and again, the people most likely to be harmed by the use of psychoactive drugs are those who know the least about them. In explaining both the potential benefits as well as the risks of using this drug, Dr. Jansen has made an important and timely contribution to the nascent but urgent effort to understand and develop a pragmatic public health approach to the ever-expanding social phenomenon of psychoactive drug use. Not only does this book contain a wealth of practical harm reduction information for the ketamine user, it also elucidates for doctors, therapists, treatment providers and policy makers the mysterious yet compelling reasons why many people do make a fully- informed choice to use this drug. Dr. Jansen also discusses in depth a treatment program for people whose ketamine use developed into abuse and addiction.

Dr. Jansen's book is full of remarkable philosophical insights into the relationship between consciousness and neuroscience, making a valuable contribution to our understanding of the human mind. Dr. Jansen is to be commended for this extensively researched and thorough exploration of ketamine. Ketamine: Dreams and Realities will undoubtedly remain the most relevant and influential book on ketamine for many years to come.

The complete book can be ordered from MAPS Go to: http://www.maps.org

6. DanceSafe's Second Annual Conference in Albuquerque: Perspectives by Amanda and Beth

Amanda's Perspective

From May 30 to June 2, I had the opportunity to attend the Lindesmith Center/Drug Policy Foundation's Annual Conference, along with the 2nd annual DanceSafe conference happening at the same time. As a representative from both Dancesafe and the Inter- mountain Harm Reduction Project, I got to experience the conference(s) from a lot of different angles.

The four days I spent in New Mexico were a mix of learning, networking, and fun. I got to meet some of the most important people in the harm reduction and drug policy movement, as well as catch up with fellow members of Dancesafe. As a representative of IHRP, I staffed a booth jokingly proclaimed "harm reduction central." We had three important agencies (the Harm Reduction Coalition, IHRP, and the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange) all in one place. This gave attendees the opportunity to come to us for information on overdose, hepatitis, and other important aspects of harm reduction.

Each day was set up in a similar way: a morning plenary followed by breakout sessions afterwards, a keynote speaker at lunch, and then afternoon breakout sessions. Movies dealing with the war on drugs were shown throughout the day. There were an incredible number and variety of sessions, from queer issues to drug policy debates to online activism. It was often hard to decide which sessions to go to since so many dealt with important and relevant issues.

The youth movement was represented at this conference as well. Thursday afternoon Jamie Smidt from our Buffalo, NY chapter represented DanceSafe on a panel discussing the Emergent Student and Youth Movement. An entire Youth Caucus was held on Thursday Night as well, the first event of its kind ever. DanceSafe, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Prison Moratorium Project, and other youth organizations both national and local gathered together at this caucus and shared their perspectives on the drug war, how it affected them and their communities, and what they, as local peer-based groups, were doing in response to it. The youth track closed with the "Justice or Just Us?" session, where entertainers, journalists, and harm reductionists gathered to talk about profiling and the media's role in demonizing teens and various youth cultures. I had the opportunity to speak on this panel as a raver and part of the harm reduction movement, and it was great to be able to share what we do every Saturday night with a group of adults and members of other communities.

On Friday and Saturday the 37 DanceSafe members attending the conference gathered to have our own organizational meetings, which clarified a lot of issues from the past and solidified our new, participatory national structure. Members of local chapters are now administering many of the programs that used to be run by paid staff in the national office. The meetings were inspiring and we all went home revitalized and ready for what is sure to be a busy summer for DanceSafe volunteers everywhere.

For me, the best part of the conference was learning that there are so many other people around the world who are working hard to change drug policy. I got to make a lot of new friends and meet important people who continue to support me. This collection of people from all over the world gave me a lot of new information that I can use in my outreach and activism.

Beth: An "Outsider's" Perspective

When I arrived at Albuquerque Airport for the DPF Conference it was after 10:00PM and I had only one thing on my mind – how was I going to get to the hotel?

Preoccupied with this question, I almost missed hearing my name being called. When I finally looked up I realized it was Tim Santamour, who I knew through the Harm Reduction Coalition. He was standing with a group of young people I didn't know, hailing me with a big smile. I went up and greeted him. He told me he was now with DanceSafe, and introduced me to some of the other DanceSafe members he was with, who had just flown in from different parts of the country.

DanceSafe had arranged rides for their people, and Tim said that I was welcome to ride with them to the hotel. Although I was tired and not in the best of moods (it was past my usual bedtime), I actually started having fun with the group of people I met at the airport.

A member of the New England chapter of DanceSafe, Kait, did not have a room reserved in the sold-out hotel, and expressed concern over where she was going to stay. Having been in the same situation many times myself, I invited her to share my room, which worked out wonderfully for both of us. Kait, like most of the DanceSafe people I spent time with, is a truly great person. She is intelligent, visionary, and compassionate.

I knew I would learn some things at this year's conference, and expected to see some people I knew from conferences in the past, but truthfully I thought I would be spending most of my time alone. This ended up not being the case at all. The DanceSafe folks took me under their wings and took care of me. Apart from Kait, who was a wonderful roommate, there was Amber, who drove me to the hotel from the airport, Melissa, who lent me a charger for my cell phone, and many others. DanceSafe really took me in and treated me as one of their own, like I was family.

During the time I spent with DanceSafe people I felt like I was with old familiar friends. I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Emanuel, the founder of DanceSafe, who I met once a few years earlier, and got to spend a little time with Tim, though not as much as I would have liked.

I truly learned something new at this conference. Basically, while I had been aware of DanceSafe for quite a while and had great respect for them and a strong belief in what they were doing, I was not a part of their "scene." I don't go to rave-type parties, nor do I like the style of music played at these events. As a result I didn't know much about the DanceSafe people... until now. Having had the opportunity to spend time with members of DanceSafe from around the country, I must say the vision has evolved into a real movement consisting of wonderful and compassionate people. I salute the organization and it's people for having succeeded in creating a non-profit that truly feels like a family, where the individuals aren't overlooked. The people in DanceSafe seem to recognize each other for their own value. I commend them for this.

Thank you Emanuel and all of the people who make up DanceSafe. Thank you for your openness and acceptance, and for being yourselves and doing what you do.

The contents of E-News are (c)2001 DanceSafe and Respective Authors unless otherwise noted. Permission is hereby granted to freely reprint & reproduce DanceSafe E-News as long as proper credit is given, including links where appropriate.

To SUBSCRIBE to DanceSafe E-News: newsletter-subscribe@dancesafe.org
To UNSUBSCRIBE from DanceSafe E-News: newsletter-unsubscribe@dancesafe.org

For Testing Kit issues: ekits@dancesafe.org
To reach the E-News editor: editor@dancesafe.org
To reach the E-News list owner (for technical issues): dsnews-owner@dancesafe.org
To reach the DanceSafe National Office: dsusa@dancesafe.org

Some helpful URLs:
To find a DanceSafe chapter in your area
To purchase an Ecstasy Testing Kit
To donate to DanceSafe