Each year in California, there is a supermassive rave called “ETD Pop” in Daly City at the Cow Palace put on by Skills DJ Workshop. The tickets to attend are outrageously expensive, but its a memorable night to never be forgotten.Famous DJ from around the world perform before thousands of captivated dancing masses. Intricate electronic musical progressions combine with overwhelming laser light shows to create an amazing experience. One year, the event managed to be so epic that it even blew out the local power grid. Peace Love Unity Respect are the underlying tenets of this rave culture which mainstream media demonizes. Its an amazing experience, a place where dreams can be both seen and heard. A vibe of completely absolute and utter euphoria which club kids live for…and some even die for.
Attendees often claim that the music is better sounding on drugs, and because of this general consensus hundreds of undercover police officers infiltrate the event yearly, making dozens if not hundreds of drug arrests. This year, tainted pills hospitalized several individuals, and led to the death of one Anthony Mata. This is because current drug laws aren’t established to provide safety. They’re established to criminalize users. Clubgoers are very aware of the dangers of drugs, and yet continue to use them despite. This is because the true danger of ecstasy pills is that they are cut with all sorts of dangerous adulterant drugs apart from MDMA, like Methamphetamines and various designer substances. Rumor has it that the pills which killed and hospitalized contained rat poison. Honestly, alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous than MDMA, yet they’re illegal. How fucking backwards is this society? In order to assure the safety of people, some groups have been established to test pills for adulterants. One such organization is called Dancesafe, and they supply testing kits. They walk a thin line with the law to provide this service, since it could be considered as providing paraphernelia. Thus, the government doesn’t agree with harm reduction. Its all out war on drugs, no sympathy
Officials are always trying to ban raves, and reduce ecstasy use. The RAVE Act (Reducing American’s Vulnerabiltiy to Ecstasy Act), or the similiar Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, which was passed as a rider secretly attached to the popular Amber Alert bill known as PROTECT in 2003, have made raves all the more illegal. As the law outlines, water bottles and glowsticks are paraphernelia. Club events can be shut down for the mere distribution of water bottles.Currently, officials are contemplating the banning of raves at the Cow Palace due to this whole incident. Is this really surprising? No. Is it really the answer? Is this going to prevent further incidents? I doubt it.
Within a month, another supermassive rave will occur in Los Angeles called the Electric Daisy Carnival. Club kids are stoked already, and unphased over the recent deaths. These things happen in the club scene, and they’ve grown to sort of expect it. Its unfortunate.
Will raves continue to go on? Of course they will. With massives reaping in $100′s per attendant, and with upwards of 40,000 attendants…thats a lot of money. Ever taken an economics class? Or worked a job? Money is what makes the world work. And since these raves make a lot of money, as do the drugs sold at them, people will continue to promote them. You get the picture?
In a perfect world, these events would be free. People wouldn’t need to take pills to be happy, but people would respect the decision regardless.
In the words of Alexander Shulgin,
”I, as a responsible adult human being,
will never concede the power to anyone to regulate my choice of what I put into
my body, or where I go with my mind. From the skin inwards is my jurisdiction,
is it not? I choose what may or may not cross that border. Here I am the Customs
Agent. I am the Coast guard. I am the sole legal and spiritual government of this
territory, and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable”
Pills wouldn’t be cut with rat poison. And Police wouldn’t need to exist.
But thats not the world we live in. Are you surprised?
