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1987. A point in time when raves did not exist. Soft rock
ruled the airwaves. Nobody had considered that a thudding bassdrum, four subbass
thuds per bar, could consitute a foundation for popular music. Nobody had thought
to combine ecstasy with music. But on a small Spanish island called Ibiza, frequented
by hordes of hungry young Brits, ecstasy and music were being combined - with
surprising results.
It wasn't long before MDMA made it back to the mainland and exploded
all across the UK. No other country reacted quite like it. A heady cocktail of
greedy promoters, newspaper scare stories and out-of-control authorities all helped
to spread ecstasy use across the country like wild-fire.
"The drugs culture took a disturbing new turn at the weekend
when the biggest ever 'acid house' party was held ... As 11,000 youngsters descended
on a quiet airfield in the middle of the night, drug pushers were waiting to tempt
them with an evil selection of narcotics."
The Daily Mail
Huge illegal raves sprang up in fields, industrial estates,
and warehouses. Tens of thousands of people attended the larger ones, convoys
of cars gridlocking motorways. Organisers and ravers frequently played cat-and-mouse
with police forces trying to find out the date and location of raves.
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a rave
(picture: mallo)
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new laws
In 1990, the Government attempted to reduce Ecstasy use by
shutting down the raves and introducing a number of new laws. When the police
clamped down on illegal raves, nightclubs opened all over the UK to accommodate
the desire for the young to get loved up and dance.
Ecstasy was available in every town and city in the land.
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increased deaths
As the wide-open fields and spacious warehouses of the rave era were replaced
by small over-crowded clubs, the number of deaths from the use of Ecstasy began
to increase.
Some dodgy clubs turned off the taps and even turned on
the heating to force clubbers to buy bottled water. Most Ecstasy users were unaware
of the physical dangers of such environments.
leah betts
In November 1995, an 18-year-old girl became a tragic symbol for the growing anti-drugs,
anti-ecstasy campaign. Leah Betts died after taking ecstasy with alcohol and drinking
excessive amounts of water. The campaign that followed, featuring the famous 'SORTED'
poster, appeared on 1,500 billboards nationwide.
Ecstasy use doubled within the year.
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