When 30 people were indicted in Seattle on January 23 for selling Ecstasy and other drugs, DanceSafe found itself in trouble as well.
Here's why: Police have warned the clubs at the center of the bust--Club FX and Club NV--to clean up drug use, or face possible closure under the city's anti-nuisance laws. DanceSafe is worried that the clean-up effort might mean keeping DanceSafe out of the clubs. Promoters won't want to talk about drug use at their events, even in a harm-reduction sense, says DanceSafe spokesperson Jennifer Keys.
"People are not going to be receptive to harm reduction [now]," Keys says. "The fact that we're there acknowledges that there's [drug] use."
"I'd be really disappointed if DanceSafe is unable to get into the clubs now and provide harm reduction services," says Gary Goldbaum of Public Health Seattle-King County. Public Health supports harm reduction, and they've endorsed DanceSafe's approach. Goldbaum says DanceSafe had to struggled to get into clubs before the drug bust, for similar reasons: Promoters don't want to acknowledge drug use.
And DanceSafe is concerned that there's a bigger need for their drug tests since the January bust, even if promoters downplay drug availability at events. If people know which clubs were targeted for Ecstasy sales, they might go to those clubs looking for drugs, Keys says. That will draw in more dealers, possibly selling cheaper and more dangerous Ecstasy imitations.
"Now that the news is out, everyone's going to be there looking for drugs," Keys says.
