http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/6/1/18
factors influence the frequency of illegal drug and alcohol use: the frequency of going to certain nightlife venues in the previous month (such as, pubs, clubs or goa parties); listening to rock music, dance music or southern and funky music; or sampling venues (such as, clubs, dance events or rock festivals).
Research on nightlife venues (e.g. festivals and pubs)
other than clubs/raves is rare [1]. Calafat et al. [2]
broadened the scope of their study to include other
mainstream nightlife venues, demonstrating that the use
of alcohol and illegal drugs is also linked to the frequency
of visiting bars and pubs. Until recently, little attention
has been paid to music festival attendees’ use of illegal
substances (these music festivals are comparable to rock
festivals examined in our study). Lim et al. [3] interviewed young people attending a music festival in Australia, and found higher drug use prevalence among this
population than among respondents to a National Drug
Strategy Household Survey. In contrast, according to a
UK survey, the majority of respondents reported that
they did not use illegal drugs while attending music festivals [4]. Alcohol consumption was, however, reported
by the majority (88%) [5]. Another study, which focused
on first time use of legal and illegal drugs at music festivals, demonstrated that visitors to rock festivals mainly
reported using tobacco and cannabis for the first time
[6].
Moore and Miles [7] found an association between
substance use and alternative music styles in the electronic
music scene: respondents were more likely to consume
MDMA at “hard house” and “trance nights”, and were
more likely to drink alcohol if they attended “funky house
nights”. According to key informants and police sources in
Belgium, frequenters of goa parties are more likely to use
drugs than people who frequent other sub scenes within
the electronic dance music world [8]. Goa trance (common at goa parties) is essentially “dance-trance” music; the
goal being to assist dancers to experience a collective state
of bodily transcendence, similar to that of ancient shamanic dancing rituals, through hypnotic, pulsing melodies
and rhythms. It has its roots in the state of Goa in India
[9]. Although a shift in the dance party scene away from
“underground” events has been observed [10], a revival of
the dance “underground” has recently been reported, with
the advent of goa parties held at secret venues [11]. Moreover, this alternative music style within the electronic
dance music scene seems to be associated with greater
drug use.
Belgium offers an excellent opportunity to focus on
several different nightlife scenes, since it is known for its
variety of music styles and venues and its large music
events (such as, I Love Techno, 10 daysoff and rock festivals like Rock Werchter, etc.). This study will elaborate
and expand upon findings from previous studies,
because few studies have examined substance use by followers of various music styles (dance, rock and mixed
southern and funky music) and frequenters of various
nightlife venues (dance events, clubs, rock festivals,
pubs, goa parties, etc.). These nightlife variables will be
studied in relation to substance use. Although MDMA
is the most notorious club drug [9,10,21-23], cannabis
appears to be the most popular illicit drug among party
people [11,24]. Furthermore, the combination of alcohol
and illegal drugs or the combination of different illegal
drugs, is a particularly worrying characteristic of dance
drug users for policymakers and health workers [13,25].
This article focuses on the (frequency of) use of the
most popular drugs: alcohol, cocaine, MDMA, cannabis
and amphetamines [24].
Method
Study sample
This survey was administered to those participating in Belgian nightlife using a self-report questionnaire. A sample of 811 respondents was surveyed at three dance clubs, two dance events and two rock festivals in Flanders (for a more detailed description, see [24]). These specific events and clubs were chosen because of their scale (in order to ensure a large enough sample size) and location (regional spread). Furthermore, pragmatic issues played a role, like: already existing contacts with key figures in some regions and club owners, promoters, to maximize participation in the study. The most popular clubs and events in Belgium were included in the study. Dance music was played in the clubs and at the dance events, but there were also DJs or bands playing dance music at the rock festivals. The clubs included in this study are small scale, open every weekend, and have fewer visitors per occasion than the dance events or rock festivals, which are large events mostly held in the open air during the summer welcoming over 10 000 visitors.
In total, 1406 individuals were invited to participate in
this study, 811 individuals completed the questionnaire,
595 people refused to participate. Based on the researchers’ observations, many people refused to participate
because they were on their way to a bar, or wanted to
see a particular artist who was starting his/her act.
Other people did not want to participate because they
were accompanied by a group of friends. Surveys from
36 respondents (4.1%) were excluded from the data analyses as unreliable, because they reported the use of
‘NTSC’, an imaginary substance that was added to the
questionnaire. Obviously intoxicated visitors were also
barred from participating in this study. If these respondents insisted on participating, their filled in survey was
marked for deletion and removed from the analyses
(n = 3).
- ↑ Martinus T, McAlaney J, McLaughlin L, Smith H: Outdoor music festivals: cacophonous consumption or melodious moderation? Drugs Educ Prev Pol 2010, 17(6):795-807.
- ↑ Calafat A, Fernandez C, Juan M, Becona E: Weekend nightlife recreational habits: prominent intrapersonal “risk factors” for drug use? Subst Use Misuse 2007, 42:1443-1454.
- ↑ Lim MSC, Hellard ME, Hocking JS, Aitken CK: A cross-sectional survey of young people attending a music festival: associations between drug use and musical preference. Drug Alcohol Rev 2008, 27(4):439-441.
- ↑ Martinus T, McAlaney J, McLaughlin L, Smith H: Outdoor music festivals: cacophonous consumption or melodious moderation? Drugs Educ Prev Pol 2010, 17(6):795-807.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Hesse M, Tutenges S, Schliewe S: The use of tobacco and cannabis at an international Music festival. Eur Addict Res 2010, 16:208-212.
- ↑ Moore K, Miles S: Young people, dance and the sub-cultural consumption of drugs. Addict Res Theory 2004, 12(6):507-523.
- ↑ Van Havere T, De Donder E, Geirnaert M, Schrooten J, Vermeulen V: Partywise: Kwalitatief onderzoek naar trends in druggebruik in het uitgaansleven - 2004 [Partywise: qualitative research on trends in drug use in the nightlife scene - 2004] Brussels: VAD; 2005.
- ↑ Saldhana A: Psychedelic White: Goa Trance and the Viscosity of Race London: University of Minnesota Press; 2006.
- ↑ Merchant & MacDonald 1994, Lenton S, Davidson P: Raves, drugs, dealing and driving: qualitative data from a West Australian sample. Drug Alcohol Rev 1999, 18:153-161.
- ↑ Van Havere T, De Donder E, Geirnaert M, Schrooten J, Vermeulen V: Partywise: Kwalitatief onderzoek naar trends in druggebruik in het uitgaansleven - 2004 [Partywise: qualitative research on trends in drug use in the nightlife scene - 2004] Brussels: VAD; 2005.
