Anyone involved with the dance/rave/club culture knows that drugs often go hand in hand with music and dancing. Club drugs, as well as alcohol and drug abuse, are often rampant in the social groups full of excited club goers. Previous academic studies supported this notion but could not distinguish if the drug use took place inside the clubs/venues or whether people consumed before going out.

A recent study seems to support the latter explanation (drugs consumed before the club); at least for all drugs aside from crystal meth.

In this study experimenters tested patrons as they entered and exited the club. Approximately ¼ of the attendees tested positive for some sort of drug when they entered as well as when they exited the club. There was not a significant difference in percentage of those that entered with drugs already in their system than those who exited with drug use. This supports the conclusion that no significant amount of drug use took place inside the club (excluding alcohol).

But this wasn’t true for all drugs. Cocaine and marijuana usage was the same at entrance and exit but positive crystal meth tests nearly doubled from entrance to exit.

Frighteningly enough 16% of the patrons exited the club with a BAC greater than .08%. Many of the people who were taking drugs also consumed alcohol which poses an even greater threat since the interactions between drugs and alcohol can cause severe reactions as well as a more severely impaired judgment.

Since most patrons entered with drugs already in their system, it seems reasonable to suggest that these clubs do attract drug users. Most people who entered without drug use did not take drugs during the course of their stay at the club. However the usage of methamphetamines while in the club definitely needs to be looked into further, as the effects of taking that inside the club in addition to drinking can cause many problems (legal and health wise) for both the patron and the owners.

Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer

Citation:

Miller, Holden, Johnson, Holder, Voas, Keagy (2009) Biological Markers of Drug Use in the Club Setting. Journal of Studies on Drugs and Alcohol. Vol 70 (9)