Mixmag is launching a campaign to promote safe ecstasy use

For over three decades Mixmag has been chronicling dance music and club culture in the UK and around the world. For two decades the scene has included, to varying extent, the taking of ecstasy pills and MDMA. We’ve never endorsed drug use, but we’ve always recognised that for many people it’s a fact of life.

This weekend, over a century since it was first synthesised, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be taking ecstasy on a night out. But recent testing has shown that the pills available in the UK and around Europe now contain more MDMA than at any time in history. Below, Dr Adam Winstock of the Global Drug Survey, a long time collaborator with Mixmag and someone who cares deeply about preventing harm to recreational drug users, explains why that is – and why it’s a very dangerous thing.

What I know as Mixmag Editor is that we have a responsibility to our readers, our followers on social media and everyone who lives and breathes club culture to try and keep you as safe as possible – especially in 2016, when deaths from MDMA are rising and there seems to be no meaningful effort on the part of the authorities to educate recreational drug users on best practices.

Drug deaths and hospitalisations aren’t just a horrific tragedy for the people affected and their family and friends, they have a huge impact on clubs staying open and festivals going ahead, and ruin those great experiences of partying and dancing together that we all love. That’s why, in conjunction with Global Drug Survey, we’re launching this campaign to encourage anyone who plans on taking an ecstasy pill to dose carefully.

The message couldn’t be more simple: taking a small amount of ecstasy and waiting a couple of hours before redosing could save your life. Telling your friends ‘don’t be daft, start with a half’, could save their lives. If you’re a DJ or an artist, helping us spread this simple message could help save the lives of your fans.

So have a great weekend, have a safe weekend, and hopefully we’ll see you on the dancefloor, not in the first aid room.

Click here to read the full article.

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Thumbnail: Flickr CC tanjila ahmed