Jake Krzeczowski

[Sunday Coffee Sipper] Drugs are taking over the party in EDM

So it finally happened. Two weeks ago in New York, drugs finally interrupted the dance party.

As dance music has risen over the past decade, repackaged as "EDM," short for electric dance music, the genre has gained traction through festivals where underage girls act like hardened street workers and neon-clad bros vibe to DJ after DJ as if in a trance. Things came to a head a couple weeks ago when two festival-goers died as a result of drug use at Electric Zoo Music Festival on Randall's Island in New York. Both appear to be from "molly" (MDMA). The New York Post reported 20-year-old New Hampshire University student Olivia Rotondo told emergency workers that [she "took six hits of molly"] before collapsing due to seizure.

Rotondo's death, along with the overdose death of fellow festival-goer Jeffrey Russ and several hospitalizations, shut the festival down before it reached day 3. Festival organizer, Made Event, is offering refunds to ticketholders for the third day.

To be sure, it was negligence at it's finest, but it gave MDMA a face, a public victim. It wasn't the first overdose of "molly," but it underscored a growing trend not only in the EDM world, but in festival culture at large.

In the 90s, as promoters fell off by the dozens, as did the fest culture. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to be able to put a number on the various festivals that seem to pop up almost daily across the country.

Festivals have become refuge, a lawless oasis in an over-policed world and EDM is largely pimped out as it's marquee event. There is a separation of cultures. As in any genre, there are those that truly embody the music without the aid of drugs. There are always a few that cause problems for many and in this case, the blame falls on the victims unfortunately.

Drugs and dance music are not a new revelation. Cocaine was rampant during disco and house music in the 70s and 80s and ecstasy was a staple of the 90s-era raves. The difference today is the culture within which molly, MDMA, ecstasy is used. We live in an instant-gratification society in which patience is a forgotten ideal. It's a generation that has grown up with high speed internet, touch screen cell phones and downloads at their fingertips. They've never had to wait, perhaps why someone like Rotondo would scarf down six hits of the stuff.

Next week is Nocturnal Wonderland in San Bernadino, the annual end of festival season.

Issues aside, the party will still go on.

by Jake Krzeczowski