This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Club drug is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Club drugs are a loosely-defined category of recreational drugs which are associated with discothèques in the 1970s and dance clubs, parties, and raves in the 1980s to the 2000s.[1] . Unlike many other categories, such as opiates, which are established according to pharmaceutical properties, club drugs are a "category of convenience", which includes drugs ranging from inhalants (nitrous oxide and amyl nitrite "poppers"), stimulants (such as ecstasy and amphetamines) and hallucinogens such as LSD. Dancers at all-night parties use these drugs for their stimulating or psychedelic properties. The "club drugs" vary by country and region; in some areas, even opiates such as heroin and depressants such as ketamine are considered as "club drug".[2]
Contents |
Types
Examples of drugs typically categorized as club drugs include ecstasy, various amphetamines and less obviously suitable substances like the depressants GHB and ketamine (which do not act as stimulants, but are commonly referred to as club drugs). 'Poppers' is the street name of amyl, butyl and isobutyl nitrite (collectively known as alkyl nitrites), which are clear, yellow volatile liquids which are inhaled for their intoxicating effects. Nitrites originally came as small glass capsules that were popped open, which led to the nickname 'poppers'. The drug became popular in the UK first on the disco/club scene of the 1970s and then at dance and rave venues in the 1980s and 1990s. The "club drugs" vary by country and region. "In Delaware, heroin (and many other drugs) are sold at clubs and at "raves" -- often to very young users. Though far less common than other "club drugs" like MDMA, ketamine, or LSD, heroin can also be found for sale in some New York clubs."[2]
Although the previously mentioned selection of drugs are generally categorized as club drugs by the media and the United States government, this distinction probably does not have an accurate correlation to real usage patterns. For example, alcohol is generally not included under the category of club drugs, even though it is probably used more than any other drug at clubs. Ketamine has long history of being used in clubs and was one of the most popular substances used in the New York Club Kid scene. Ketamine produces a dissociative state, characterised by a sense of detachment from one's physical body and the external world which is known as depersonalization and derealization. Hallucinations and effects include changes in the perception of distances, relative scale, colour and durations/time, as well as a slowing of the visual system's ability to update what the user is seeing.citation needed At high doses sounds can be out of sync with the user's visual field. Colors can also turn to sound and sound into color.citation needed
In the 2000s, synthetic phenethylamines such as 2C-I, 2C-B and DOB have been referred to as club drugs due to their stimulating and psychedelic nature (and their chemical relationship with MDMA).[3]
History
In the mid- to late-1970s disco club scene, there was a thriving drug subculture, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud dance music and the flashing lights on the dancefloor, such as cocaine [4] (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite "poppers" [5], and the "...other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude, which suspended motor coordination and turned one’s arms and legs to Jell-O."[6] According to Peter Braunstein, "[m]assive quantities of drugs [were] ingested in discotheques".
See also
References
- ^ *Erowid reference 6889
- ^ a b http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/p_5wpuls.txt
- ^ *BBC-2C-I
- ^ Gootenberg, Paul 1954- - Between Coca and Cocaine: A Century or More of U.S.-Peruvian Drug Paradoxes, 1860-1980 - Hispanic American Historical Review - 83:1, February 2003, pp. 119-150. He says that "The relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough; ..." -
- ^ Amyl, butyl and isobutyl nitrite (collectively known as alkyl nitrites) are clear, yellow liquids which are inhaled for their intoxicating effects. Nitrites originally came as small glass capsules that were popped open. This led to nitrites being given the name 'poppers' but this form of the drug is rarely found in the UK The drug became popular in the UK first on the disco/club scene of the 1970s and then at dance and rave venues in the 1980s and 1990s. Available at: http://www.drugscope.org.uk/druginfo/drugsearch/ds_results.asp?file=%5Cwip%5C11%5C1%5C1%5Cnitrites.html
- ^ www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1999/7/1999_7_43.shtml - 76k -
External links
 |
This article related to psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 September 2008, at 14:58.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Club drug".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.