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

Smith, Z, Moore, K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6048-222X and Measham, F 2009, 'MDMA powder, pills and crystal : the persistence of ecstasy and the poverty of policy' , Drugs and Alcohol Today, 9 (1) , pp. 13-19.

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
Schools: Schools > School of Health and Society
Journal or Publication Title: Drugs and Alcohol Today
Publisher: Emerald
ISSN: 1745-9265
Depositing User: USIR Admin
Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2019 13:06
Last Modified: 27 Aug 2021 21:18
URI: https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/49694

Actions (login required)

Edit record (repository staff only) Edit record (repository staff only)