Book review

Ecstasy and the Rise of the Chemical Generation

Richard Hammersley, Furzana Khan, Jason Ditton,

Routledge, London, 2002. 192 pp.; 0-415-270040-5

This book is a refreshing change from the handful of

books that have been produced on the rave dance

culture or, as the authors refer to it*/‘the chemical

generation’. Hammersley, Khan and Ditton’s book isbased on empirical research with people active in the

rave dance culture. This contrasts with what has been a

slant towards studies on the cultural significance and

meanings of the rave dance culture. The focus of their

book is ‘ecstasy’ and ecstasy users and it is clear from

the start that the authors lean towards the view that

ecstasy is relatively harmless and that reporting on

ecstasy, in particular the negative health consequences,has been biased. This shapes their research and from a

wealth of data they set out to show that among their

sample there was little evidence of harm connected to

ecstasy use, and as a result calls for alarm are possibly

unfounded.

From the outset the authors are keen to move away

from what they view as the one-dimensional approach

of most drugs research. These are studies which portray

drug users solely as drug users and often as predatorycriminals at that. Their study is strengthened*/they

believe*/by the broader range of lifestyle questions

that were asked, which enabled them to present a

more functioning profile of respondents than is usually

borne out by drugs research. It is apparent that the

authors were keen to conclude that ecstasy users were

‘just as normal, in practically all respects, as the rest of

us’.The book presents material from two separate

but related studies carried out in Scotland in the mid

1990s. Most of the book uses quantitative and qualita-

tive material on ecstasy use from samples of mainly

young people. The other small-scale study focused on

the information needs of ecstasy users, though this

is relegated to the appendix. There is a lot of interesting

material here. The simple style the authors use topresent their material makes it easy to read. A broad

range of issues related to taking ecstasy is covered,

from what other drugs are combined with it on a night

out to the more mundane rituals that go on as part of

a night out*/such as whether people prefer to spend the

‘come down’ period with others, or on their own.

The mundane material is commonplace to the rave

dance scene participant but is rarely accessible outside of

their world. Despite the authors applying a limited

analysis to this material, this makes the study unique.

Overall the presentation is coherent and is a useful

addition to what has so far been a scant evidence based

on the drug-taking behaviour of rave dance scene

participants. However, there are two important over-

sights. First, their focus on ecstasy is narrow and

overlooks other potentially harmful activities that often

go hand in hand with its use*/specifically the cocktails

of drugs that are used and the extended time periods

over which they are used, both of which were verified by

respondents of this study.

Second is in their keenness to prove there is limited

harm connected to ecstasy use, data reported in the

book that is contrary to their standpoint has been

overlooked. This was most evident in the section which

presents material from follow-up interviews. Seven

respondents were re-interviewed between 4 and 6 years

later. Here the individual’s reasons for ceasing to take

ecstasy were explored. The authors chose to highlight

the declining quality of ecstasy over the years as a key

reason for people’s decisions to stop using. At no point

did they pick up on the fact that three of the seven

declared one of the main reasons for stopping was the

negative psychological effects they had begun experien-

cing.

A result of these oversights and overall bias towards

the harmless argument is that the authors have little

comment to make on policy surrounding this style of

drug use aside from the rather shallow recommendation

that ecstasy testing, similar to that which occurs in

nightclubs in the Netherlands, would be a useful harm

reduction strategy.

Interestingly this book comes at the same time as

claims are being made that there has been a significant

increase in the number of ecstasy related deaths over the

last 2 years. Does this suggest the situation has moved

on a step and we are now witnessing a more reckless

population of ecstasy users than at the time period the

research reported here was carried out? The alternative

could be that the recording of death where drugs are

International Journal of Drug Policy 13 (2002) 437�/438

www.elsevier.com/locate/drugpo

0955-3959/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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implicated has become more rigorous. My feeling is the

latter, though this of course needs to be put in

proportion. Where the numbers of people in the UK

who die from taking ecstasy are small in relation to thequantity of ecstasy tablets being consumed, it needs to

be recognised that there are health risks involved and

that these are more serious for some than they are for

others.

Jennifer Ward

Centre for Urban and Community Research,

Goldsmiths College,

University of London,

New Cross,

London SE14 6NW,

UK

E-mail: j.r.ward@gold.ac.uk

Book review438