ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter provides the contextual background to the ethnographic study of drugs use and drugs dealing as it occurred within different leisure venues and among different friendship networks participating in the London rave club culture. It presents a broad overview of the rave club culture since it first emerged in the UK. The face of the rave club culture has changed significantly, yet there continues to be a considerable number of people who consume ecstasy, cocaine and other drugs in club venues and bars across the UK. Rave club participants generally distinguished their drug use as recreational and distanced themselves from ‘hard-end’ drug use styles, but as the culture developed, anecdotal reports surfaced suggesting people were using heroin to assist the ‘come down’ from stimulant drugs effects. The chapter also discusses some specific pieces of work which reveal detail on the internal workings of the rave club drugs market.
