Dance Safe

Another example of harm reduction is Dance Safe, a program that allows ecstasy users at raves to test their pills for contamination. 

Many young women who go to dance clubs or parties where they know the people around them may feel the environment is safe and conclude that if someone did try to drug them, someone nearby would surely notice and try to intervene in the situation before anything bad happened. 

The ceremony consisted of chanting that continued all night long, except for brief intermissions every forty minutes or so. The sabia Maria Sabina danced for two hours in the dark. The ritual aspect, in the context of feeling both adventurous and safe, seems to have influenced the quality (or tone) of Wasson s experience. 

Benzodiazepines are very safe and effective in the short-term treatment of anxiety. However, prolonged use (over six months) may lead to tolerance and dependence. There have been several waves of public alarm about the abuse potential of benzodiazepines. Over ten years ago, there was much concern about Valium abuse, as portrayed in the book I m Dancing As Fast As 1 Can (Gordon 1990). More recently, there has been much concern about abuse of Xanax and memory impairment due to Halcion. 

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