Samantha Benson

December 11, 2014

Urban Ethnography

Prof Pajo

Ethnography: When a Drug Enters a Social Class

Ravers can be defined as people consumed in EDM (electronic dance music) who

follow the philosophy PLUR meaning peace, love, unity, and respect. This ethnography

serves as an analysis of the rave population and the issue of MDMA (Molly) usage

among this demographic. “MDMA, or 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, was

patented by Merck pharmaceuticals in 1912 and did not make much news until

the 1970s, when psychotherapists began giving it to patients to get them to open

up. It arrived at New York nightclubs in the late 1980s, and by the early ’90s it

became the preferred drug at raves…” 1

Ravers are uneducated in the components of MDMA and do not know that Molly is

almost always cut with another form of a stimulant. Molly is reported to give users a

euphoric and affectionate sense that lasts a few hours and is usually taken at clubs or

electronic music festivals. Increasing use of MDMA in rave culture is becoming a

problem as many young people are dying of overdoses. “On average, only about four

people a year have died in New York City from MDMA overdoses, a tiny fraction of the

700 deaths from drugs, city health officials say.” 2

1 Aleksander, Irina. "Molly: Pure, but Not So Simple." The New York Times. June 22, 2013.

2 Mckinley Jr., James. "Overdoses of 'Molly' Led to Electric Zoo Deaths." Overdoses of Molly Led to Electric Zoo Deaths. September 12, 2013.

With the usage of Molly referenced in so many media outlets, such as songs by

influential top hit artists such as Miley Cyrus, people seem to be treating the drug like it’s

a fad. There has also been gossip mainly from drug distributers that Molly is a pure form

of ecstasy and that it is natural for your body. A young New York City film-maker told

the New York Times “This is probably completely naïve, but I felt I wasn’t putting as

many scary chemicals into my body.” 1 In my research I want to study the culture of clubs

and interview attendees about their experiences with Molly, how much of the drug do

they take at once, how frequently are they consuming, and do they think the drug is pure.

I also hope to observe/interview someone with the signs of MDMA usage, which are:

extreme euphoria, teeth grinding, high energy, dilated pupils, and lack of inhibition.

I believe that people in the rave community are fascinated with Molly and do not

see the potential harm in not knowing what they put in their body even though they are

told its safe. If individuals in the rave community were to be better educated on the

consumption of drugs and PLUR was followed there would be a decrease in drug related

deaths in the rave setting.

Field Site Description

My field study was conducted at one of New York City’s most popular nightclubs

on a Thursday night. I chose this location and time due to my exclusive membership to

this club and the lower guest count compared to the rest of the weekend. The atmosphere

of the venue could be best described by author Italo Calvino in his novel Invisible Cities

he states “. . . the people who move through the streets are all strangers. At each

encounter they imagine a thousand things about one another. . . But no one greets

anyone; eyes lock for a second, then dart away, seeking other eyes, never

stopping. . . “ 3 This nightclub is unique in the fact that it has three different

floors with three different types of music to tailor to the different “strangers.” Individuals

seemed to find their comfort zone on the specific floor where the music interested them

the most. But I also did not want my data to be limited so I also leveraged information

from an online community on Facebook called “East Coast Rave Community.” Which is

an online interactive group of individuals that come together under the commonality that

they are all ravers. On this page ravers can talk about current events and gossip going on

in the rave scene, discuss the changes that are going on within the community, and give

their opinion on new music.

Methodology

To gather data from this demographic, I conducted my survey in two different

portions; First, I conducted a formal interview where I asked in depth questions about the

participants Molly experiences and their insight on the atmosphere of the rave

community. Secondly, I used an online survey to ask more general yes or no questions,

basic demographics, and personal questions that they may not want to answer in an

interview type setting. I asked personal questions such as: what other substances they

have tried, the amount normally consumed, how often, and others were also included.

After my interviews in the nightclub I handed over my iPhone to the participant so they

could take the survey digitally and anonymously.

When deciding which participants to choose to interview I was looking for

individuals who boasted signs of Molly usage, had characteristics of someone in the rave

community, and people who would approach me. The main interview question I asked

3 Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

every participant was what does it mean to be a raver? Where all participants seem to

have the same positive responses such as the music is their lives, love for the community,

and freedom of expression.

Participant Profiles

All names of participants will be limited to initials to protect the anonymity of the

individual. Out of seven participants my first four were from the nightclub and the

following three are from the online group East Coast Rave Community. While observing

the crowd at the nightclub, I noticed that majority of the crowd tended to be in groups of

friends, not really mingling with others, and not many people seemed to be alone like me.

My first participant found me, he will identify as MM, male, 20 years old,

from New York, New York he is a resident DJ, promoter, and the only

participant not to identify as a raver, but an artist. MM is a Molly user

who uses an average of .2 grams of molly a night while in the club or

attending a concert.

My second participant also approached me in the crowd, he will identify

as JK, male, 25 years old, from Somerset, New Jersey, and he had only

tried Molly one time at a festival at a .2-gram dose.

My third participant, SK, female, 21years old, from South Brunswick,

New Jersey took .4-gram dose while attending this New York City

nightclub.

My fourth participant, CO, male, 20 years old, from Brooklyn, New York

was an avid drug user displaying the signs of Molly usage, which took

a .2-gram dose that night.

Then from the online rave community we had the fifth participant, MP,

female, 22 years old, from Newark, Delaware who usually doses .2-grams

with friends in a dance setting.

And the sixth, JG, male, 23 years old, from Hilliard, Ohio, also an avid

drug user averaging a .15-gram dose of Molly. He always uses Molly

when attending EDM concerts.

Finally our last participant DG, male, 20 years old, from Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania takes around .2-.3-gram dose while attending electronic

music concerts regularly.

I decided to split my interviews between my field searches and online that way I

could gather a variety of different opinions and insights from ravers across the country.

Interviews

As stated before, my first participant, MM, found me. Since he is a big part of the

rave culture I was curious to hear about his experiences at clubs witnessing people on the

drug. Being a DJ on stage for most of the night, he has a bird’s eye view of the crowd

and he spoke of times where he has seen ravers fall to the ground and begin to have

seizures and have to get carried out by security. “It’s really horrifying to watch happen

live,” he states, “its like I just want to stop the music and help, but I can’t.” Even after

these experiences MM still continues to use Molly, “It makes me feel good,” he states.

Upon asking him what he thought about the rave community acronym he told me “I love

the ravers that live by the PLUR philosophy they are the ones I see trying to help the

people who are seizing on the floor, but for every person who is PLUR there’s two scums

out there ready to pick your pockets, you know?” He also believes that the media and

other musicians influence the usage of Molly and other substances.

My second participant also approached me in the crowd, JK, he had only tried

Molly one time at a festival at a .2-gram dose and had an awful experience. “I thought

that I was going to die” he recalled, “my heart was beating out of my chest and I was

melting into a pool of sweat, I will never do it again.” He did not believe in the

philosophy, he stated “the term PLUR is only associated with people that just go to

festivals to do drugs and ruin the scene for everyone.” When asking him if he believed

electronic music artists influence the drug use in the community his response was not like

the others, “Not at all” he stated, “if a person wants to take drugs there going to take

them, the artist has no influence.”

After my first two participants being male I sought out the best place to find a

female willing to participate, the line for the bathroom. As I approached the end of the

line I noticed SK who was bouncing up and down with a lollipop in her mouth, which are

a normal signs of Molly usage, turns out she, was in fact using. She told me she took .4

of a gram that was a white powder in a capsule because “everyone was doing it.” She

does believe that artists do have an influence over drug usage in the community. During

the interview she recalled a bad Molly experiences she has had where she “took too much

and puked.” Yet she still continues to use Molly whenever attending dance related events.

When asking about the PLUR philosophy she stated, “Not everyone follows it, but most

have good intentions.”

For my last participant at the nightclub, I sought out a male Molly user, it was

tough for me to pick a user out of the dancing crowd, everyone was having the time of

their lives. Then I found CO gazing up at the light show alone, he was attending the club

with friends who had left already. CO was very outgoing and opened up to me right

away. He informed me he is an avid drug user and tried Molly for the first time at a

festival a couple of years ago “I was already tripping on mushrooms and my friends had

Molly and I could not contain my curiosity for it” he stated. He had no concern with

mixing the drugs because a friend was taking the same mixture that he referred to as

“candy flipping”. That night he had taken .2 of a gram in rock form that was an amber

color and tasted very bitter. When I asked him how he was feeling he said, “ I feel so

connected to you, the music, vibes, and just life in general.” He believes many but not all

ravers follow the philosophy and artists do not have influence over drug usage. When

asking him about his drug usage and how he manages it he confidently replied with, “I

love bass music and Molly, the trick is not to enjoy it too much and look for reasons to

take it, finding good reasons to take it is how to have the most fun with it.”

One of the first participants from the online rave community, MP, tried Molly for

the first time with trusted friends because she was curious as to how it would make her

feel. She reminisced on a bad experience she had had at a show, “ I became really dizzy,

lost my balance, fell, thank God someone saw me, picked me up and brought me to a

seat, I was shaking so hard.” Since then she has cut down on her usage, but still

continues to use minimally. She believes that the PLUR philosophy is not followed “its

not hard to be a kind person,” she states, “but I encounter people who give off bad vibes

at shows all the time.” She also deems artist’s play a big role in influencing drug users.

Next, we have JG who tried Molly for the first time at the music festival

Lollapalooza because he was “comfortable with the atmosphere, with trusted friends, and

had a camelback to stay hydrated.” He states that “ I feel sleazy and dirty when I take

Molly at shows, especially since I am older now.” So he has stopped using Molly

altogether. He also recalls past experiences of friends throwing up because “they took

too much, too fast” which also contributed to his termination of usage. Reflecting back to

his age in regards to the philosophy “it used to be more PLUR back in the 90’s, this new

young crowd is too self absorbed.” He also thinks artists do influence usage among

ravers in the community and that they should reach out to ravers and advocate against the

usage of Molly.

Finally our last participant, DG, did not identify himself as a raver, but as a

“rager.” His first time trying Molly he was with trusted friends. Upon asking him how

he felt while using Molly he stated “I feel fluidity between the beats and himself,

empathy between myself and others, as well as overall acceptance.” He believes that “the

usage of PLUR is non existent, people are only concerned with themselves and their

close friends.” He views artists as “drug promoters” because “they do the drugs

themselves and are referencing it in their songs making it seem like the right thing to do.”

Data Collection

Through these interviews it can be seen that none of the participants were

pressured there first time trying Molly and were curious about its effect. Even after

having bad experiences with the substances only one person stopped all together with the

rest continuing to use regularly. Usually after a traumatic drug related experience the

average natural response could be relayed to fight or flight experience.

Participants all reported similar identifiers of Molly including look, taste, and

smell. Even though the identifiers appeared to be similar they were different when it

comes to interpretation. Users reported similar tastes and smells when using Molly but

one factor that was repeatedly different was color. Molly is supposed to come in a brown

amber color, while participants reported encounters with a white, yellow, and purple

substance, which usually indicates the compound is cut with a more potent chemical then

just pure MDMA.

Confident with my interview responses from a variety of participants, I passed the

survey taker my iPhone for them to take a quick Qualtrics survey. With my survey

results from all seven participants I found out that they attend electronic music concerts

more then going to clubs, and they attend these events about once a month and use Molly

every time. Every person surveyed reported that they are able to spot a person who is on

Molly and recognize the symptoms of an overdose. All admitted to have used other

substances such as: cocaine, prescription pills, acid, ketamine, research chemicals, LSD,

DMT with majority using marijuana and magic mushrooms. The most popular way that

participants bought Molly was from their friends rather then a dealer or online. Also

about half own a drug test kit and all participants asked to have their drugs tested or if

they were tested.

After taking Molly, majority of he users reported a “Molly hangover” or a period

of depression lasting after consumption. None testified to being peer pressured to take

drugs or peer pressuring others to try different substances, but a little over half of the

participants reported they knew of someone who died due to a drug related incident.

Overall, all of the participants thought Molly is a pure form of MDMA, which dealers

portray it as a marketing tactic. The CRC Health Group concluded, “MDMA is derived

from the essential oils of the sassafras tree. We have done some research and seen that

there are accounts of people ingesting the sassafras root to get high.” 4Another classified

substance, Sass, a slang term for the compound including sassafras oils is not to be

mistaken with Molly.

Data Analysis

Leading off of this it can be determined that ravers who know some one or have

had bad experiences themselves are more likely to be cautious of the Molly they consume

and are more likely to think about testing it. One of the general main conclusions that

could be drawn from the collection and observation of this community is that majority of

Molly users are using the drug to feel good at electronic music concerts. Even though

participants seemed to be avid about having their drugs tested this information is to be

proven false. The fact that no participants in my survey actually knew that Molly was a

pure form of sassafras oil, (main natural-high component) and claimed they have their

drugs tested, is troublesome. This hints that there was a social acceptance bias in my

survey, which means that the drug dealers marketing tactic of making Molly seem pure

and safe is effective. What dealers sell as Molly contains MDMA along with other

varying stimulants such as: methamphetamine, caffeine, opiates, heroin, and ketamine.

To think that these ravers are consuming a drug and don’t even know what its chemical

make up actually is leads me to believe that the majority of the rave community is

misinformed about what Molly really is.

4 The CRC Health Group. "Ecstasy, MDMA, Molly, and Sassafras – Ecstasy Information."

California Drug Treatment Programs. September 10, 2014. Accessed December 11, 2014.

According to my interviews it appears that about five to ten years ago the rave

scene had a completely different tone and vibe that was closely related to the PLUR

philosophy. Jump ahead a century or so and there have been more reporting’s of assault,

theft, and distrust when it comes to these music events. Jane Jacobs, a Greenwich Village

housewife of New York City, accurately describes the disorder at these events, “There is

a quality even meaner that outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the

dishonest mask of pretend order. . . “ 5 While attending these events ravers go in with an

open mind-set due to the symptoms of Molly usage expecting everyone to be kind, open,

and approachable. When now a days a drug user will go in to the event believing that

they are in a music utopia, but may end up in a world full of trouble. I believe that their

vulnerability in this setting has lead to the negative change in this group.

When a community comes together and unites over one common philosophy there

will always be imposters and outsiders who try to join the community. This is deemed to

be true in the rave community especially since it is an open group with no credentials to

become a member. Finally I can rightfully conclude that the PLUR philosophy appears

to be a thing of the past and a new greedier, drug-driven generation of ravers is taking

over the scene.

Conclusion

After conducting an in depth analysis of all of my collected data from my

interviews and surveys I came to the conclusion that the rave community should not be

considered a community. A community depicts a group of people who form a

5 Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage

Books, 1992.

respectable relationship based on a common interest or achievement. Ravers do come

together over the common interest in electronic dance music but there is no respectable

relationship formed between these groups of people. The effects of Molly making

individuals happy, loving, accepting, care free, and optimistic gives the illusion that there

is a sense of community among these young individuals. But it appears that the only

relationship that is being formed is a dependence on the drug Molly for a good time. All

participants used Molly at every electronic music event they attended with the exception

of one individual. They all have tried the substance due to the influence of their friends,

and also believe that media and the music artists have an impact on drug usage.

Generation Y is easily influenced self-conscious when it comes to judgments, which

leaves them vulnerable to follow the crowd.

Reflecting back on my research, all participants in my study stated that they could

identify the symptoms of overdose, usage, and test their drugs, so there should be no

reason as to why the number of deaths in the electronic music industry are rising. The

issue within this community is self-acceptance and social acceptance, which can be

supported by their ultimate desire to fit in and the fact that there was a social acceptance

bias in my survey. The concluding viewpoint for this ethnography can be better

explained by a quote from the novel The Architecture of a Community by Leon Krier he

says, “Viewed from a certain distance and under good light, even an ugly city can look

like the promise land.” 6 The people who attend electronic music events and use

regularly see these occasions as the most glorious moments in their lives due to the

effects of the drug being a stimulant. I believe that if this substance were completely

6 Krier, Le, and Dhiru A. Thadani. The Architecture of Community. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2009.

taken out of this group of it would fall apart leaving the rave community to die with a

renaming of the group: Molly community.

Bibliography

1 Aleksander, Irina. "Molly: Pure, but Not So Simple." The New York Times. June 22,

2013. Accessed December 11, 2014.

3 Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

4 The CRC Health Group. "Ecstasy, MDMA, Molly, and Sassafras – Ecstasy

Information." California Drug Treatment Programs. September 10, 2014.

Accessed December 11, 2014.

5 Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books ed. New

York: Vintage Books, 1992.

6 Krier, Le, and Dhiru A. Thadani. The Architecture of Community. Washington, DC:

Island Press, 2009.

2 Mckinley Jr., James. "Overdoses of 'Molly' Led to Electric Zoo Deaths." Overdoses of

Molly Led to Electric Zoo Deaths. September 12, 2013. Accessed December 11,

2014.