Mission Raves
Types of products : alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine, and other hallucinogens, amphetamines, heroin, anaesthetic substances (GHB, ketamine)
Health problems encountered : headaches, vomiting, dizziness, psychological problems, anxiety attacks
Most common risks : dehydration, bad trips, hyperthermia, hypoglycaemia
Beneficiaries : approximately 40,000
Sex, age : mainly men, average age: 24
Number of instances of treatment : 75 including 3 joint projects at teknivals
Number of volunteers : 180
Sources of funding : Ministry of Health, local health authorities, MILDT (interministerial committee on drugs and drug addiction), OFDT (French monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction), local authorities
Partners : Techno Plus, Aides, Orange Bleue, ASUD, TIPI, Act Up, Acothé, Nantes daytime reception centre, Espace indépendance, Sida paroles, Fratrie
Young people are taking more and more synthetic drugs. But the ban on raves forces participants into clandestine behaviour with all the related risks: poor security conditions, no medical support, nobody present from associations or institutions to provide prevention messages. The decree of 14 April 2005 banning testing for drugs is a real brake on our approach to these people. It was an essential tool for initiating discussions about prevention and for making users take responsibility for their drug-taking.
Informing about risks
Since 1994
Activities :
MdM's Raves project is involved in harm reduction work linked to the use of psychoactive substances. It has two main aspects:
• health and prevention: offer places for medical care where people can be seen and listened to. The teams deal with minor cuts and bruises and emergencies. Prevention messages are given concerning the risks of taking drugs, cultural practices (tattoos, piercing, etc.), and STI, HIV and hepatitis transmission, etc;
• analysis, on site using TLC (thin-layer chromatography) and testing (until April 2005, when testing was banned), and in a laboratory, of the components of the substances in circulation in order to adapt the prevention messages appropriately. Since 1999, MdM has been involved in the SINTES (National system for identifying toxins and substances) programme. In 2005, the Paris Raves project redirected its activities to squats. The team sets up RdR stands each Friday evening, visits around three squats each week and practices TLC analysis to identify the substances contained in the drugs taken. 120 squats were visited and 36 RdR sessions were held in Paris (in all, more than 3,400 RdR contacts). The Marseilles RdR project also extended its activities into squats in 2005.
Types of work :
All the projects offer first aid, information and substance analysis in a harm reduction approach linked to drug use.
Work in places where young people gather such as free parties, teknivals, discotheques, clubs, squats, etc.
In 2005, 78 samples of synthetic drugs were collected, documented and analysed under the SINTES programme co-ordinated by OFDT (French monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction).
Outlook:
Adapt the types of work the projects do to an increasingly difficult context where young people are dispersed and less and less accessible. Develop prevention tools and flyers, appropriate to the growing context of polyconsumption.
October 2006