Navigating risk: How “ravers” engage in harm reduction when using illicit drugs

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationships between harm reduction and the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) community. To better understand how ravers navigate, perceive, and react to risks inherent in a club drug using setting, this thesis presents research from interviews with EDM community members about their experiences. I find that community not only encourages harm reduction but is a form of harm reduction. This is achieved primarily through connection, culture, and the transmission of knowledge. Further, the nature of community encourages and acts as harm reduction because of ravers’ duty of care for others, which ensures ravers look out for one another to address a broad continuum of care. Further, ravers have their own subset of folk knowledges that are created by and shared with the community. This encourages ravers to engage with harm reduction, attempt to avoid stigma, and learn more about formal and informal harm reduction resources and strategies. Ravers can better engage in holistic harm reduction, not only when it comes to consuming club drugs, but to a broader spectrum of risks that ravers may be susceptible to when at a rave.