Karenza Moore

The rise in legal highs: prevalence and patterns in the use of illegal drugs and first- and second-generation “legal highs” in South London gay dance clubs

Aim: To assess the prevalence of use of established illegal psychoactive drugs and emergent psychoactive drugs, the so-called “legal highs”, amongst gay club-goers who are considered to be “early adopters” of drug trends. Design: Three in situ surveys were conducted in July 2010 with customers at two dance clubs (nightclubs) in an area known for its “gay-friendly” night time economy. The surveys assessed the prevalence of self-reported lifetime, past year, past month, fieldwork day use and planned use of illegal drugs and “legal highs”. Setting: This is a field study. Participants: The participants were 308 customers in two “gay-friendly” clubs in South London, United Kingdom. Measurements: Two-page research instrument was designed for in situ drug surveys. Findings: Our sample had higher rates of self-reported lifetime and recent use of established illegal drugs than the general population. Mephedrone emerged from near obscurity to become the most popular illegal drug in this survey, with 41% having taken it in the past month and 27% having either taken and/or planning to take it on the fieldwork night. Regarding second-generation “legal highs”, 11% of the sample had taken NRG-1 in the past month and 3% had taken and/or planned to take it on the fieldwork night. Conclusions: This survey suggests that the popularity of mephedrone surpasses other drugs, both legal and illegal, despite having been banned by the UK government prior to this survey being conducted. “Early adopters” of drug trends appear to be undeterred by the legal classification of emergent psychoactive substances. Given the global nature of the trade in “legal highs”, this study has implications for other countries where mephedrone use is emerging.

Repertoires of distinction Exploring patterns of weekend polydrug use within local leisure scenes across the English night time economy

Presented here are the first findings of self report surveys of prevalence of illicit drug use by customers in the night time economy of a large English city. Five random sample surveys conducted with dance club customers and three similar surveys with bar customers identified an association between illicit drug use, entertainment type and venue type. First, club customers were significantly more likely to report lifetime, past month and fieldwork night drug use than bar customers. Second, distinct and prolific polydrug repertoires were associated with the genres of electronic dance music favoured within different clubs, along with evidence of the growing popularity of emergent drugs such as MDMA powder. Such polydrug repertoires support the notion of culturally, spatially and pharmacologically distinct local leisure scenes operating within the contemporary night time economy; rather than the same broad mass of customers choosing different leisure experiences on different occasions, or the more fluid, ‘neo-tribal’ cultural groupings suggested by some. The article concludes by suggesting that prolific and enduring weekend polydrug repertoires within local leisure scenes increasingly polarize such scenes from drug use in the general population, with implications for policing and governance, alongside the need for a more nuanced understanding of the night time economy as an analytical concept in social research.

Being an ‘it’ in IT: gendered identities in IT work

This paper reflects on aspects of gender and IT work. The core hypothesis is that, if technical skill and masculinity are fundamentally related, then women working in IT jobs who are, in effect, challenging masculine skills by gaining them themselves, must develop a number of strategies to cope with the challenge that they feel is being made to their own gender identities and those of the men with whom they work. One strategy is for women to distance themselves from IT work; a second strategy is for women to distance themselves from their identities as women. Our results are drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews. We adopt the approach of critical research that seeks to expose asymmetric power relations in the organization and to let silenced voices be heard. This is related to the literature on silence in organizations. Within the critical approach, we chose a feminist methodology that looks towards identifying practices that are problematic for women and that acknowledges our biases and interests as researchers. Additionally, we draw upon the theoretical constructs of the gender and technology literature to theorize the relationship between gender and technical skill and how this impacts conceptions of gender identity.

Young people, dance and the sub-cultural consumption of drugs

This article discusses the role of drug consumption in the lives of young ‘clubbers’. Arguing that debates over the consumption of drugs and youth transitions both serve to ‘problematise’ young people the suggestion is made that the role of drug consumption in dance-related settings remains largely misunderstood. As such, the article discusses qualitative data that taps into the nature of drug consumption in the pre, in and post-clubbing experience. This data reflects the way in which drug consumption provides a stabilising force in young peoples lives. Drugs provide a resource through which young people create ‘parallel lives’ that counter-balance the uncertainties of everyday life. Research into young people and drugs continues to be dominated by epidemiology, medicine and psychology. In contrast, this article advocates a meaning-centred approach which prioritises an analysis of the specific and apparently mundane cultural contexts in which young people consume drugs.

Mephedrone, “Bubble” and unidentified white powders: the contested identities of synthetic “legal highs”

Purpose – In this fourth paper in a series on emergent drug trends in the UK (2006 ketamine, 2009 MDMA powder/crystal, 2010 mephedrone), the authors consider how the pharmacological landscape has changed since substituted cathinones (including mephedrone) were controlled in April 2010 and in particular assess the prevalence of mephedrone in the general night time economy (NTE) and its relationship to the use of established illegal drugs.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were conducted with a convenience sample of 207 adults stopped at random in four town and city centres on Friday nights in Lancashire in November 2010.Findings – Of the adults surveyed, one in ten reported having taken mephedrone within the past year and one in 20 within the past month. Those who used mephedrone were also significantly more likely to report using ecstasy pills, cocaine and amphetamines. Regarding the next generation of “legal highs”, no clear substitute for mephedrone had emerged; instead, there was uncertainty, confus...

“It's the most fun you can have for twenty quid”: Motivations, Consequences and Meanings of British Ketamine Use

Whilst ketamine use in clubbing contexts has recently been the focus of British media attention, little quantitative or qualitative data is available on its use amongst those young people participating in Britains contemporary post-rave electronic dance music (EDM) ‘scenes’ as clubbers. Drawing on data from in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 current regular ketamine users, this article explores user accounts of their motivations for taking ketamine within EDM clubbing contexts, the consequences (both positive and negative) of use and the broader meanings of use. Each issue is considered in relation to two key emergent themes: ‘intensity’ and ‘sociability’ in the drug experience. Participants attempted to optimise the possibility of pleasurable intoxication. This primarily involved participants controlling the quantity, quality and frequency of dose, along with various aspects of the setting of their use, in the hope of producing their individual favoured level of intensity and level of sociability during the ketamine experience. Relatedly, participants drew on discourses of uncontrolled hedonism, compulsion, ‘inappropriate to occasion’ and ‘inappropriate for purpose’ usage to make sense of negative consequences and to firmly position themselves as ‘sensible’ ‘recreational’ users in light of conflicting, largely negative meanings of ketamine produced by other (non-ketamine using) clubbers, the media and ‘official’ responses to use. The article concludes by considering how pleasure is understood and acquired by participants through a pleasure nexus of intersecting axes of intensity and sociability, with users attempting to manage their own intoxication in accordance with individual preferences and previous experiences.

MDMA powder, pills and crystal: the persistence of ecstasy and the poverty of policy

Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey suggest that ecstasy use has declined since 2001. This apparent decline is considered here alongside the concurrent emergence of a ‘new’ form of ecstasy ‐ MDMA powder or crystal ‐ and the extent to which this can be seen as a successful rebranding of MDMA as a ‘premium’ product in the wake of user disenchantment with cheap and easily available but poor quality pills. These changes have occurred within a policy context, which in the last decade has increasingly prioritised the drugs‐crime relationship through coercive treatment of problem drug users within criminal justice‐based interventions, alongside a focus on binge drinking and alcohol‐related harm. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the information, support and treatment available to ecstasy users since the height of dance drug harm reduction service provision pioneered by the Safer Dancing model in the mid‐1990s.

'Disappearing Women': A Study of Women Who Left the UK ICT Sector

Women continue to leave the UK ICT sector in disproportionate numbers, yet little research has documented the processes of this phenomenon. The ‘Disappearing Women’ project, draws on ten in-depth qualitative autobiographical interviews with women who have left (disappeared) the ICT workplace, vowing never to return. The majority of existing studies, in this area, concentrate on women who remain in the ICT workplace, this study, found the ‘disappearing’ who had been overlooked and effectively silenced and allowed their voices to be heard. It is these women who once found, were able to facilitate a more in-depth understanding of why women were leaving the ICT sector, and indifferent working conditions encountered that became determining factors in leaving the ICT sector.

Key concepts in drugs and society

Why do people take drugs? How do we understand moral panics? What is the relationship between drugs and violence? How do peoples social positions influence their involvement in drug use? Insightful and illuminating, this book discusses drugs in social contexts. The authors bring together their different theoretical and practical backgrounds, offering a comprehensive and interdisciplinary introduction that opens up a wide scientific understanding moving beyond cultural myths and presuppositions. This is an invaluable reference source for students on criminology, sociology and social sciences programmes, as well as drug service practitioners such as drug workers, social workers and specialist nurses.

Ketamine use: minimising problems and maximising pleasure

In January 2006 ketamine shifted from medical regulation through the Medicines Act to a Class C drug through an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act. In the debate surrounding this criminalisation, interest has grown in prevalence and patterns of ketamine consumption. Such information is scarce however, particularly given that ketamine has yet to be included in the British Crime Survey or most other surveys of youth and young adult drug use. Here Karenza Moore and Fiona Measham reveal the true extent of ketamine use, who is using it and how.