Dr Adam Winstock: "Let clubs be honest about drug use so they can educate people and save lives"

Voices calling for honesty and pragmatism from within the music industry are rare. For many involved in the night time economy and the music industry, drugs are to be enjoyed in private, with music, but ignored in public. B. Traits is one of the few DJs who voices her support for rational harm reduction at events. Few others take the risk.

Fabric was closed down following a disproportionally high number of MDMA-related deaths. The only other thread linking these diverse tragedies were the young age of most of those who died and while MDMA deaths across the UK are rising, they are still fortunately very rare. The relationship between MDMA dose and the risk of death is inconsistent and unpredictable. While there is little doubt that higher doses place most people at greater risk of harm, it may surprise many people just how little we know about MDMA deaths. For example, on a night where someone dies, there may have been many people in the club who had taken the same drug and higher doses but been OK. But just how many lives could be saved with people using drugs more safely is not known – but I would guess at least half of all MDMA deaths are probable avoidable. Education delivered in the right way at the right time by the right people can save lives.

For those of us who have been in the field for a while it can be easy to forget that common sense harm reduction information is not always as easily available or credible as it should be, especially for younger people or people new to taking drugs. People need to know how to dose with MDMA (start low go slow, tell your mates so they know). They need to know when they will come up (15min – to over an hour), how they will feel (they might feel nauseous) and when to re-dose (not when you are peaking). They need to know that twice the dose is not twice the high – even small increases in dose can lead to very big increases in actual blood levels and can tip you into feel sick and unwell. They need to know not to take MDMA from different batches. And then there’s all the basic stuff: not drinking too much water, not getting pissed on alcohol on a pill, not mixing with other stimulants and leaving a month or more between doses. If you are reading this and nodding in agreement, then you are in the majority. But with so many people out there a minority of people is still a shit load of people who could be so much safer if they knew a few basic rules.