DanceSafe Now Offering Fentanyl Testing Strips

July 18, 2017 - Fentanyl is a short-acting synthetic opiate that is now being used as an adulterant in substances such as heroin, cocaine, and MDMA. Due to its high potency, it has caused numerous deaths on unsuspecting victims. In response to the rising death toll caused by fentanyl-laced drugs, DanceSafe and the University of California San Francisco have conducted a study assessing five different immunoassay fentanyl test strips for their effectiveness at detecting fentanyl and its various analogs at concentrations typically found in street drugs. Although none of the five strips detected all of the fentanyl-related analogs, and one Chinese-manufactured...

July 18, 2017Read more...

D.A.R.E to Resist Poor Drug Education

“D.A.R.E. - To Keep Kids Off Drugs.” If you were a kid growing up in the 80’s or 90’s, you remember this slogan. You might also remember going through the program in your elementary school, where police officers would come speak in your classroom and tell you to “Just Say No” to drugs. After years of evidence demonstrating the program’s ineffectiveness in actually reducing drug use among teens and adolescents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called for a reinstatement of the program. The D.A.R.E. program was founded in 1983 as a partnership between the Los Angeles Police...

July 17, 2017Read more...

Drug checking is a valuable public health tool and Johns Hopkins University agrees

A new study by Johns Hopkins University published online in the Journal of Psychopharmacology concludes that individuals were significantly less likely to report intent to consume a substance marketed as MDMA if the substance did not test as such. Results also suggest that Molly is not a less-adulterated substance, as discussed in this week's #MythBusterMonday blog post. The study used data collected by DanceSafe from on-site drug checking conducted at events between July 2010 and July 2015. The data was collected by DanceSafe volunteers Dr. Sarah Saleemi, researcher and physician at University of Illinois Chicago hospital, Dr. Steven Pennybaker,...

July 12, 2017Read more...

July 11th #TestItTuesday Alert: Unknown Homer Simpson Tablet Tests as 2C-B

#TestItTuesday Alert! DOH! A light green Homer Simpson pill that could easily be mistaken as a MDMA tablet tested as a 2C-B press. It is unknown what the pill was marketed and sold as, and the source of the tablet is also unknown. The pill was submitted in Bern, Switzerland last month. Always keep your eyes peeled for similar substances to enter the market in your area, as the black market is global and interconnected. Although 2C-B is a sought-after substance, it has different effects and is active at much lower doses than MDMA. If you...

July 11, 2017Read more...

“Molly” is Not Purer Than “Ecstasy” and There is Data to Prove It

The terms “molly” and “ecstasy” are oftentimes used to describe different forms of the same drug: MDMA. Molly is a street term used to identify powder or crystal MDMA, while ecstasy is used to identify pressed MDMA that comes in pills of various shapes, sizes, and colors. While this vernacular is used to differentiate the form of the drug, molly and ecstasy are (supposed to be) the same substance. Some people think that getting molly, or powdered MDMA, means it is purer than ecstasy, or pressed MDMA, as it is commonly believed that an ecstasy pill contains more adulterants than...

July 10, 2017Read more...

Let’s Celebrate Freedom When Drugs Are Decriminalized (at the Least)

Today, we celebrate America’s 241st birthday. As many would say, we are celebrating freedom. Freedom and liberty and democracy--all the things that make America great (again?). But, while white, educated, middle-to-upper class adults enjoy fireworks, BBQ, and drinking themselves into a dazed but legal stupor, we need to pause and take a moment to reflect on the things that make America not-so-great. Like, say, the criminalization of drug use, which through the perpetuation of the Drug War, has ravished communities and proliferated the opioid epidemic. America incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, and...

July 4, 2017Read more...

It’s science: Methamphetamine and Adderall produce identical effects

On the spectrum of stigma associated with virtually all illicit drug use, methamphetamine is definitely on the high end, along with heroin and crack cocaine. We all remember seeing the billboards and television ads plastered all over with fear-inciting images of pale and sickly people with missing teeth and sores all over their bodies. The advertisements warned: “Meth. Not Even Once.” “These types of media campaigns neither prevent nor decrease the use of the drug; nor do they provide any real facts about the effects of meth,” states Dr. Carl Hart. “They succeed only in...

July 3, 2017Read more...

Music is the Drug: The Sober Festival Experience

First, let me put this out there: this piece isn’t intended to be pro-sobriety or pro-drugs. I am proudly pro-choice in this matter. I believe each of us is entitled to make our own decisions and learn along the way—it’s your life and your journey! That being said, I will always advocate for everyone to be well-informed, so you can make those choices to the best of your ability. Maybe that means being savvy and taking those tabs you brought to the DanceSafe tent for testing. Maybe that means deciding you don’t want the extra bump or dose that everyone else...

April 26, 2017Read more...