DanceSafe

DanceSafe is a 501(c)(3) public health organization promoting health and safety within the electronic music community. Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998, DanceSafe quickly grew into a national organization with chapters in cities across North America. The organization has two fundamental operating principles: harm reduction and popular education. Combining these two principles has enabled the organization to create successful, peer-based educational programs to reduce drug misuse and empower young people to make healthy, informed lifestyle choices.

DanceSafe is known for bringing adulterant screening (a.k.a., “pill testing,” “drug checking”) to the rave and nightlife community in the U.S. and distributing unbiased educational literature describing the effects and risks associated with the use of various drugs. The organization also started the only publicly accessible laboratory analysis program for ecstasy in North America, currently hosted and managed by Erowid at EcstasyData.org. DanceSafe neither condones nor condemns recreational drug use. Rather, the organization provides a non-judgmental perspective to help support people who use drugs in making informed decisions about their health and safety. DanceSafe volunteers staff harm reduction booths at festivals, raves, nightclubs and other electronic dance music (EDM) events, where they provide information on drugs, safer sex, and other health and safety issues concerning the EDM community (like driving home safely and protecting one’s hearing).