The rapid growth of Electronic Dance Music, also commonly referred to as EDM, has made a huge impact within the United States in just one year. Upbeat tempo styled music has hit the airways and changed existing styles of popular artist such as Rihanna and Justin Timberlake. With electronic music making such a big hit among teens and adults, a new trend that is often associated with the music scene has become more prevalent as well. It has been rumored that the electronic dance music scene is filled with designer drugs varying from hallucinogens such as LSD to Marijuana. It has been reported that attendee of festivals and shows at smaller venues usually sneak these drugs and take them upon the performance.
The electronic scene is known for having a huge fan base and a large amount of attendees and with some of these festivals being held outside, it is possible for music fans to get overheated during the warm summer weather, when these music festivals usually take place. With the scorching warm weather, large crowds, and even drug intakes, festival goers have needed paramedic attention and shockingly, there have been deaths at these electronic music festivals. Electric Zoo, held in the summer of 2013, had to end a day short when New York governors decided to pull the plug on the festival that had already had two deaths within the first two days due to drug overdose. Other large music festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival also have large number of attendees needing medical attention for substance abuse.
Although the talk of drug abuse and substance occur or get misconstrued within the electronic dance music scene, the rave culture is proud to stand behind their music and reasoning. Famous DJ named Kaskade states “If the US Government hasn’t come up with the magic bullet to quell the problem of drugs in this country, it is not reasonable to expect an event promoter to pull this kind of trick out of his hat either.” Many ravers in todays culture will stand behind their culture and believe that music is what allows them to have a special bond between each other blind of religion, gender, or body type or culture.