In this issue:

1. New Pill Results In For December 2000
2. Does E Put Holes In Your Brain? DanceSafe Responds to 48 Hours and MTV
3. Fake Ecstasy Tablets that Can Kill: Frequently Asked Questions About PMA
4. New DanceSafe Chapters Serving Their Scenes and Their Communities
5. Bienvenudo a Miami! Anti-Drug Forces Welcome DanceSafe to Harm Reduction Conference
6. The State of Ecstasy Conference
7. University of Liverpool Conducts Online Survey on Club Drugs

1. New Pill Results

The latest results from DanceSafe's laboratory pill testing program are available online at www.dancesafe.org/currentresults.html. To participate in this free, anonymous program, follow the instructions online at www.dancesafe.org/howtosendinapill.html

Forty-eight pills were sent in for analysis in December 2000, more than is typical, probably because many people saw the MTV and 48 Hours Specials about Ecstasy. Sixteen of the 48 pills tested were MDMA. Two pills sent from Florida contained TMFPP and BZP, drugs that have not been reported before in the DanceSafe testing program. These drugs, Benzylpiperazine and N-(3-triflouromethylphenl), are similar in effect to amphetamines.

2. Does E Put Holes In Your Brain?

DanceSafe and MAPS Respond to MTV and 48 Hours Specials on Ecstasy

On November 30th, 48 Hours (CBS) and MTV aired back-to-back shows on ecstasy. Fairly comprehensive and much less sensational than previous shows like 60 Minutes and 20/20, these two prime time hours mark a turning point in mainstream media coverage of the drug.

Effective public policy regarding the regulation of ecstasy and other illicit drugs can come about only in a climate of rationality and calm, open dialogue. By reducing hysteria and presenting multiple perspectives on the drug, those who use it and why, as well as the very real problems that can result from overuse and abuse, MTV and 48 Hours have done a great service. One issue, however, must be clarified.

The MTV program profiled a young woman who had been a frequent user of ecstasy and other drugs, including cocaine. On the program, the woman's doctor displayed a brain scan which seemed to show that the woman's brain was full of holes. The doctor implied that the "holes" may have resulted from ecstasy use. The following is a clarification of what the brain scan really means, written by Rick Doblin, Ph.D., President of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), after consultation with Lynn, her doctors and a number of other neurobiology specialists:

The recent MTV special on MDMA showed the results of a SPECT scan of a young woman, Lynn Smith, who had used a very large amount of MDMA. Lynn's doctors reported that her SPECT scan showed "holes in the brain," similar to what a scan would look like of an elderly woman who had had multiple small strokes. The graphic image shown on the MTV special was a 3-D reconstruction of the SPECT image, which clearly showed dramatic and frightening holes throughout her brain. However, this image was in no way a visual repres- entation of the structure of her brain The SPECT scan actually measured the variation in cerebral blood flow in Lynn's brain. The 3-D image was then created by assigning a different color to different amounts of blood flow. How the graphic image looks is a matter of threshold effect on the image processing. One can take any normal brain SPECT and lower the threshold (lower areas of blood flow assigned a low or zero level of color) , and one will see "holes" on the 3-D image. Conversely, you can also take the same image and adjust (increase) the threshold to "remove the holes".

These are not absolute blood flow measurements. The "holes" simply demonstrate relatively lower blood flow compared to the entire brain. One cannot make any statements about whether it's normal or abnormal unless absolute blood flow measurements are made, which requires more sophisticated scanning procedures than were conducted on Lynn Smith. In order to diagnose a stroke, or strokes, one can simply do an MRI and even lesions as small as 1-2 millimeters will be visible. MAPS has offered to pay for the costs of an MRI scan on Lynn. Even if there is evidence of stroke, which is highly unlikely, it would be possible to say whether this was from MDMA or from other drugs that Lynn had taken. Cocaine or methamphetamine both can cause strokes in some individuals.

No drug is completely safe, and MDMA is no exception to this rule. However, the claim that MDMA causes "holes in the brain" is not backed up by scientific research. Such claims are irresponsible and serve to further reduce the credibility of anti-MDMA warnings. If MAPS arranges for Lynn to receive an MRI scan and/or another SPECT scan, MAPS will report accurately and honestly what the results show. The text from the 48 hours show, along with video of the program's coverage of DanceSafe, is online at http://cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,253064-412,00.shtml. The Multidisciplinary Association for Pyschedelic Studies is online at http://www.maps.org

3. Fake Ecstasy Tablets that Can Kill:
Frequently Asked Questions About PMA

In September 2000, six young people died in Central Florida after consuming fake ecstasy tablets that contained paramethoxyamphetamine, or PMA, instead of real ecstasy (MDMA). See current FAQ on PMA.

4. New DanceSafe Chapters
Serving Their Scenes and Their Communities

Jane Tseng, DanceSafe

The past six months have been a time of explosive growth for DanceSafe. Media attention, combined with the electronic network of ravers have brought like-minded people together to provide harm reduction, health and safety information in their cities.

As of this week, a total of 17 chapters have achieved DanceSafe certification in the U.S. and Canada. In the past month alone, Euphoric DanceSafe in Madison, Wisconsin, Indy Kids that Care in Indianapolis, and Chicago DanceSafe have been certified as official chapters. Earlier in the fall, Detroit DanceSafe, San Deigo DanceSafe, and the Responsible Party Movement (RPM) gained chapter status. E-News spoke with each of these groups about what they've been up to.

Detroit DanceSafe became an official chapter in late September 2000, but the group has been offering harm reduction services informally for the past two years. "We made fliers for a few drugs, and took them to parties and left them on a table or passed them out to people we met," explained Jeff Wisman, one of the chapter's founders. They began formally recruiting members and developing new materials when they became a chapter of RaveSafe, a group based in South Africa. They decided to join DanceSafe six months later.

Wisman said the Detroit rave scene has suffered in the past few months, as parties have been more frequently raided and shut down. He said the crackdown has affected the chapter's ability to promote safer drug use and safer party environments, especially when one party they staffed was raided and everyone, including their volunteers at the party was ticketed for "loitering in a drug haven."

The group stopped staffing tables at parties for a short time, but received legal support in dealing with the tickets from the national DanceSafe office and the ACLU. Detroit group member Doris Payer noted that one upside of the crackdown is that, "it has pushed parties into legal venues, such as concert halls, where it's a lot easier to create a safe environment." When the chapter resumed staffing tables at events, they noticed a sharp increase in the number of fake and adulterated pills tested.

San Diego DanceSafe, formerly San Diego Ravesmart, became a DanceSafe chapter in early October. The group had formed in July, making it one of the most quickly certified chapters. From the very beginning, the group was extremely well received by their community. "One of the benefits of the San Diego rave scene is that it is very close-knit, very intimate," chapter director Melissa Martin told E-News. Because group members already knew many of the promoters and DJ's in the area, they were able to integrate harm reduction into the local rave scene quite easily .

To further strengthen these ties, the group invited local promoters to a recent workshop where DanceSafe national director Emanuel Sferios and chapter members explained DanceSafe's mission and addressed questions and concerns that the promoters had about having DanceSafe at their events. In December 2000, Martin made two presentations on behalf of San Diego DanceSafe to 9th and 10th grade biology students at a local high school. The presentations focused on dispelling myths about Ecstasy, and providing straightforward drug information to the students, along with introducing the idea of harm reduction. Martin said teachers and students alike were extremely supportive and receptive to the presentations, and she has been invited to speak again at the school.

The Responsible Party Movement in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area became a DanceSafe chapter in mid-November. Members Tim Guimond and Elliot Alexander had moved to Baltimore from Ontario, Canada, where they had worked with the Toronto Raver Info Project (TRIP). They paired up with an existing group in Washington, DC and began developing materials. The group did research and developed a packet for promoters on venue safety issues over the summer with a grant from Johns Hopkins University. RPM has found acceptance both within the Baltimore/D.C. scene and outside it. Alexander was invited to speak on behalf of RPM about drug use and safety in the rave scene at local event sponsored by Planned Parenthood The group also conducted a club drugs information training for the Substance Abuse Program in Hartford County.

RPM members continue to make themselves available to engage in discussion about health and safety issues related to the rave scene and work with existing public health organizations to promote awareness and safety. To find a DanceSafe chapter in your area, see www.dancesafe.org/findachapter.html. If you can't find a group near you and want to get one started, check out www.dancesafe.org/startachapter.html

5. Bienvenudo A Miami! Anti-Drug Forces Welcome
DanceSafe to Harm Reduction Conference

When DanceSafe chapters from around the country traveled to Miami last fall to particiapte in the Harm Reduction Coaltion's national conference, we were greeteed with a half page ad in the Miami Herald attacking HRC's conference and DanceSafe in particular. The ad, which was signed by the Flordida drug czar's office and the Drug Free America Foundation, along with several mayors, ended with the admonition, "Welcome to Miami. We'll be keeping an eye out for you." The ad also invited the public to a "drug free" rave hosted by the signatories. For the whole story, read "Raver Madness Scare Tactics, Uniformed Soldiers, Clueless Social Workers, and a Compliant Miami Herald," by Brett Sokol, in the Miami New Times. The story's online at http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2000-11-09/kulchur.html

6. "State of Ecstasy" Conference

Notes on conference

7. University of Liverpool Conducts Online Survey on Club Drugs

[NOTE February 2001: This survey is closed to new respondants] no Researchers at the Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, invite E-News readers to take part in an online survey assessing the use of dance drugs and the behaviors surrounding this use in the rave and nightclub environment. The study is split up into several parts and is open to any individual who enjoys the rave and party lifestyle, whether they use drugs or not. Full explanatory notes accompany the questionnaire. The URL to the survey introduction, which links to the survey, is http://www.liv.ac.uk/Psychology/AB/Questionair/Questionnaireintro.htm

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.

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