Club Drugs: Review of the 'Rave' with a Note of Concern for the Indian Scenario (Report‪)‬

Introduction 'Raves' are parties with loud, electronic "techno-rock" music, laser light shows, and all-night dancing held in clandestine locations, including warehouses, nightclubs, and farm fields (1). These first became popular in Great Britain in the late 1980s. The underground or noncommercial music featured at raves which is produced by computers and include little or no vocals is distinct from the music played at conventional nightclubs. Following bans in some countries the rave parties moved in to legitimate nightclubs. A raver is a person who has an exciting and uninhibited social life and regularly goes to raves. Not all ravers use drugs; however, many illicit drugs are available at raves and are used liberally to enhance the "vibe" (2). The words like 'rave drugs', 'club drugs' and 'party drugs' have been used interchangeably in the literature. The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in its "Community Alert on Club Drugs," defined "club drugs" as Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA), gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), ketamine, Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), methamphetamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (3). On the other hand, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy identifies four specific club drugs: MDMA, GHB, ketamine, and Rohypnol (4). Methamphetamine and LSD have been inconsistently included in the category of the club drugs. In addition, these two drugs have a longer history of misuse in comparison to the other four which came to the scene much later (MDMA being first reported in 1985).