London Dance Safety Campaign

Summary

The objectives of the London Safety Campaign were to reduce the harmful effects of drug use in dance venues. A multi-levelled approach was adopted that included:

  • A poster campaign using the London public transport system - posters featured cannabis, cocaine, XTC, LSD, poppers and speed;
  • A booklet campaign throughout London clubs - the leatlet provided in-depth information about dance drugs, and health and safety measures and was known as the Vital Information Pack, or VIP booklet;
  • Training of club professionals - one-day training programmes were organised and run by Release. These were aimed at club managers, door staff, outreach workers and paramedics;
  • A campaign phone-line - operators provided information about the campaign and dance events, and provided VIP booklets on request;
  • A series of club nights attended by London Dance Safety outreach workers.

Posters on London Underground were shown to be a successful medium for raising awareness of the campaign in this target audience. 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.Conclusion: Evidence of high recreational drug usage among London dance-club attendees justifies targeting this subgroup of the population in future similar drug campaigns.

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