Combining different substances in the dance scene: Enhancing pleasure, managing risk, and timing effects

Though much of our discussion of drug risks and pleasures has focused on the drug ecstasy (MDMA), this drug is far from the only one consumedwithin the rave and club scenes, and those who use ecstasy rarely use it in isolation from other drugs. Instead, within these scenes we see patterns of multiple or polydrug use. An examination of the ways in which our study participants combine drugs and how they understand these combinations provides a helpful on-the-ground example of their negotiations between pleasure and risk.