DANCE SAFE: COMMENTS ON ELECTRIC ZOO 2013 FESTIVAL THIRD NIGHT CANCELLATION and OVERDOSES

DANCE SAFE.ORG.,  a nonprofit, harm reduction organization promoting health and safety within the rave and nightclub community has commented on ELECTRIC ZOO FESTIVAL 2013, already taken place 8/30-9/1/2013, RANDALL'S ISLAND, NYC, NY. 

The third date of ELECTRIC ZOO FESTIVAL 2013 (9/1/2013) was cancelled when two concert goers Jeffrey Russ (24, Rochester, NY), Olivia Rotondo (20, Providence, RI: According to CBS she took 6 pills of "Molly") died of alleged "Molly" overdoses sold as "Ecstasy".  Refunds for day 3 of ELECTRIC ZOO FESTIVAL 2013 (9/1/2013) will be announced soon. 

Most rave parties have an "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy", and medical tents to attend to sick concert attendees. 
Many concert attendees in all genres of music have complained about dehydration at shows and the cost of water. 

ITP V.013 EDITORS NOTE: ITP does NOT promote drug use nor abuse, however does enjoy some quality Intelligent Dance Music, and good dancing. 
I guess this is big news, in a petty way in the main stream media. However, for any music festival, in any genre of music, 2 deaths, 6 illnesses over all out of 100, 000 people is NOT that bad, and about average for music fests, perhaps less than mosh related injuries. About 15 years WDST featured the Ulster County Medical examiner, and as he spoke about Woodstock '94, out of 500, 000 people, only 2 died, and some mosh pit injuries, as I was exhausted with sleep deprivation, wet and muddy.
You've heard of PED's (Performance Enhancing Drugs), now there's MED's (music Enhancing Drugs) for those neo hippies whom can't comprehend music without drugs.
Sad indeed. 
There has, for YEARS been a link to DANCE SAFE on ITP, endorsed via ITP and the extreme metal scene as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/nyregion/electric-zoo-music-festival-is-canceled-after-2-deaths.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://spak-individualthoughtpatterns.blogspot.com/2005/08/rave-act-of-20022003-vs-electronic.html
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/code/5680004/two-die-at-electric-zoo-festival-sunday-date-cancelled
http://www.dancesafe.org/about-dancesafe
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/01/final-day-of-nycs-electric-zoo-festival-canceled-after-two-drug-related-deaths/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/01/electric-zoo-canceled-drugs_n_3852155.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57601010/nyc-concert-deaths-put-spotlight-on-new-drug-molly/
FROM ELECTRIC ZOO PROMOTERS 2013: 
 “The founders of Electric Zoo send our deepest condolences to the families of the two people who passed away this weekend,” read a statement on promoter Made Event’s website, posted around 10:15 this morning. “Because there is nothing more important to us than our patrons, we have decided in consultation with the New York City Parks Department that there will be no show today.”

FROM NYC.GOV: 
CANCELLATION OF ELECTRIC ZOO MUSIC FESTIVAL ON RANDALL’S ISLAND 

Due to serious health risks, the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall's Island on Sunday, September 1^st has been cancelled. The City recommended cancellation and the event promoters have agreed. 

During the first two days of the Electric Zoo music festival, two concert-goers have died and at least four others became critically ill and have been placed in intensive care at area hospitals. Definitive causes of death have not yet been determined, however, both appear to have involved the drug MDMA (ecstasy, or molly).  The Electric Zoo organizers have worked with City officials to reduce health risks at this event, but in view of these occurrences, the safest course is to cancel the remaining day of the event

FROM CBSNEWS.COM: 






FROM DANCE SAFE.ORG:

PRESS RELEASE: If Our Community Doesn’t Appropriately Respond and Take Action After the Electric Zoo Tragedies, Who Will?

While the Promoters Took Many Necessary Steps to Help Keep Their Patrons Safe, These Tragedies Show the Gap in Services and the Need Within OUR Community to Have Better Conversations About Drug Use and Put Harm Reduction Approaches Into Action.

“Molly” was a term originally used to denote pure MDMA, usually powdered and in a capsule.  This is no longer the case.  “Molly” is often a ‘mystery powder’ consumed with the intent to ‘roll’. Powdered substances can contain any number of substances, some which even mimic similar effects of MDMA.  They can also cause severe health consequences ranging from allergic responses to temperature regulation issues to panic attacks. Some common cuts [adulterants] are PMA/PMMA, Methamphetamine, 2-C(x), and Cathinones including Mephedrone, Methylone (bk-MDMA), Butylone, MDPV, and 2-MEC or 4-MEC.

Education is one part of the equation to minimize risk; the other is to test your substances [drug checking and adulterant screening] before you ever consider ingesting them.  This is a common practice in the festival and nightlife community in other areas of the world. Refer to NEWIP (Nightlife Empowerment and Well-Being Implementation Project) for a better understanding of how these services have been implemented throughout Europe. Organizations such as TEDI (Trans-European Drug Information Project) engage in drug checking in recreational settings with harm reduction groups who work directly with drug users to share data and present their findings via TEDI Report.

In the U.S., you can screen your substances using reagent testing kits. These reagents are available from a few different places including www.dancesafe.org.  You can also see anonymous testing results from substances sent in from all over the world at www.ecstasydata.org.

As a community, we need to organize and come together to advocate for change. This has a lot of facets and meanings. First- we need to stop victim blaming and demoralizing people within our own community. Making judgemental statements about someone’s tragedy insinuates you have never made a ‘bad’ or, more appropriately, an uninformed decision. These sort of statements encourage stigma and discrimination towards drug users which prevents better conversations about drug use and widespread acceptance and implementation of effective harm reduction approaches and drug checking. Second- We are all socially responsible. This includes the patron, friend, promoter, DJ/artist, event staff, medical personnel, and even security and law enforcement. If you are a part of the community and/or a particular event and ignoring the realities of drug use, you are socially and medically negligent. Majority of drug users are recreational users, it’s time to take a pragmatic approach to health, safety, and drug use in the U.S.

No more turning a blind eye to what is really happening. Awareness, action, and change starts with us!

Contact:

Missi Wooldridge, MPH

DanceSafe, Board President

missi@dancesafe.org

DanceSafe presents "After EDC" Documentary

Submitted by Missi on Sun, 09/01/2013 - 23:38

While the Promoters Took Many Necessary Steps to Help Keep Their Patrons Safe, These Tragedies Show the Gap in Services and the Need Within OUR Community to Have Better Conversations About Drug Use and Put Harm Reduction Approaches Into Action.

DanceSafe presents "After EDC" Documentary

DanceSafe is proud to be working with filmmaker and former San Francisco DanceSafe director Le Liu on "After EDC," a feature film project on the massive music festival known as Electric Daisy Carnival. In the summer of 2010, a firestorm of negative media coverage and political outrage erupted as a result of the ecstasy-related death of a teenage girl who attended EDC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In response to the tragedy and controversy, the County Public Health Department launched an innovative harm reduction campaign alongside local promoters, DJs, and event safety experts. The story highlights the collaborative efforts between the County and the electronic community to keep Los Angeles from losing the largest music gathering in North America, as this collaboration was the first of its kind by any government agency and music promotional body in the history of the United States.

We plan on completing and releasing this project in film festivals and theaters in 2012, but we need your support to make that possible! Please consider visiting our campaign page and pledging a donation to help cover the costs of the rest of our production. More info on why we're making this film and our specific funding needs is available on the page. Donors receive gifts including DanceSafe merchandise and screen credit. Learn more here:http://IndieGoGo.com/After-EDC

VIDEO BELOW: DANCE SAFE: "AFTER EDC" INDIE A GO GO  (COURTESY OF WHITE LOTUS MEDIA): 

http://Facebook.com/AfterEDC

"After EDC" is an upcoming feature documentary on Electric Daisy Carnival, one of the longest running annual dance events in Southern California. In the summer of 2010, a firestorm of negative media coverage and political outrage erupted as a result of the ecstasy-related death of a teenage girl who attended EDC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In response to the tragedy and controversy, the County Public Health Department launched an innovative harm reduction campaign alongside local promoters, DJs, and event safety experts. The story highlights the collaborative efforts between the County and the electronic community to keep Los Angeles from losing the largest music gathering in North America, as this collaboration was the first of its kind by any government agency and music promotional body in the history of the United States. We hope to have your support as we finish and distribute this film in 2012!

WE THANK OUR SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS!

DanceSafe
http://dancesafe.org

United as One: Electronic Music Blog
http://www.facebook.com/UnitedAsOneEMB

EightForty Productions
http://www.facebook.com/eightfortypro

Students for Sensible Drug Policy
http://ssdp.org


TO LEARN MORE...

Like us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/AfterEDC

Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AfterEDC

Read our blog:
http://AfterEDC.com/

View our Tumblr:
http://AfterEDC.tumblr.com

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Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l- DANCE SAFE