Dance drug education in clubs: evaluation of the London Dance Safety Campaign

Abstract

Drugs have long been associated with music and youth culture. This paper reports on the evaluation of the London Dance Safety Campaign 1997, an intervention designed to reduce the harmful effects of drug use in dance venues. Surveys of London clubbers were carried out prior to the campaign, and following its inception. Posters on London Underground were shown to be .a successful medium for raising awareness of the campaign in this target audi ence. The campaign was positively perceived as realistic, non-moralistic and factual. The take-home message was a little unclear, possibly a result of the contradictory and confusing drugs information received from other sources. Evidence of high recreational drug usage among London dance-club attenders justifies targeting this subgroup of the population in future similar drug cam paigns.