Questions about illegal drugs at BM.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:38 pm

I am a nube to the burning man and hope to enjoy and participate in the experience that you all rave about. Though enforcement and non-tolerence policies about illegal drugs are quite clear I'm sure that it still goes on. Can you guys answer honestly about the level of enforcement and impact of drugs on the BM.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:51 pm

Sounds like a troll from a first time poster.

Or worse.

If you have to ask you probably don't need to be doing it.

Having said that if you're gonna do substances it on the playa I'd suggest you try seeking out anyone who might be gifting 500 mg tabs of Common Fucking Sense.

Blenderhead · Post by **Blenderhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:52 pm

Don't know about enforcement, but my BM's get a little squishy if I've been doing illegal drugs.

YMMV

Blenderhead · Post by **Blenderhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:53 pm

Screw you, Badger!

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:54 pm

Oh honey, don't be cruel.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:57 pm

There are drugs at Burning Man?!?!! (Aw, man! I miss all the good stuff!

)

B.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:58 pm

Personally, I'm all about 750mg of time-release Jackass(TM) chased with 3 shots of Patron..

Blenderhead · Post by **Blenderhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:59 pm

Smileys! Gah!

Yo Badger! I'm fucked doing database stuff all week - gimme a call if you can break free later this week for lunch/dinner. We have no kiddie duties, so we can probably make time for stooopidness.

hippie!

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:00 pm

Blenderhead wrote:Don't know about enforcement, but my BM's get a little squishy if I've been doing illegal drugs.

YMMV

I get constipated, but perhaps that's because my drugs are prescription.

Seriously, you're not going to get a straight answer here, that violates the Terms of Service. Did you hear those capital letters?

Blenderhead · Post by **Blenderhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:05 pm

Pardon moi, but I'm serious as fucking death - illegal drugs make the BM squishy, to the point of milkshake status.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:05 pm

Sorry if i asked an inappropriate question. If i have to ask it's probably because i want to know. To be honest when i hear ignorant accounts of the BM it includes talk of rampent illegal drug use. I just want the truth.

500mg of midol might do you some good Badger.

Also, i read the terms of service and I don't think that talking about reality breaks the laws as long as the discussion isn't advocating law breaking.

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:11 pm

Don't believe everything you hear. Or read for that matter. The desert heat has been known to create hallucinations, that might later be mis-interpreted as a happy memory. The truth is, BM is just a camping trip in the desert with a bunch of other people. Who knows what they are up to?

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:20 pm

AntiM wrote:Seriously, you're not going to get a straight answer here, that violates the Terms of Service. Did you hear those capital letters?

Which term does it violate? Promoting an illegal activity? Just curious.

The big problem I see is that there's no context and it isn't really a question. There are illegal drugs present, just like there are in any other city you might visit. It's just harder to hide them when you're living in a tent. There is a law enforcement presence, arrests are made, tickets are issued, and people are given warnings. I have not seen any sort of real data on the prevelence of any of these activities, so unless someone else has that sort of info handy all you're going to get is random anecdotes.

Drug use is certainly not a requirement, if that's what you're asking - I went several years without drinking or doing any sort of drugs (because I didn't want to, not because of any moral or addiction issues) and had a great time. I was not pressured into doing anything and didn't feel I was missing anything.

Blenderhead · Post by **Blenderhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:20 pm

Yeah, and don't listen to Badger; he shows up every year on the Friday before the burn, driving a rented RV with ten cases of bud light and a bag full of roofies for all those nubile, topless hotties.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:33 pm

Thanks guys. Like I said, i'm a nube and don't quite have a grasp on the society yet. As a philosophy student it sounds like a short term utopia where humanity is more important than society. (meaning society is a nessasary evil)

I guess i can't expect any data or serious thought on such a sticky topic.

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:34 pm

Filosofurs caint spel?

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:49 pm

The drugs, tits, booze are all just a cover for our pagan fire worshipping. The BLM cops and local law dogs are in on it too.

Go try to buy a ticket - it wont work!!!! thats because its a front to make it all look legit, and we charge 200+ to keep people from testing it out.

later

Archantael · Post by **Archantael** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:56 pm

The Professor wrote: I guess i can't expect any data or serious thought on such a sticky topic.

Data? I have questions.
1: How many years back do you want to review?
2: Do you have an email account capable of receiving large attachments say 7 to 10 MB in size?
3: If you're interested in official reports do you want county, state, and/or Federal info?
4: Do you have the latest version of QuickTime for viewing interviews and video clips?

PM me if your serious.

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:58 pm

Dork wrote:
AntiM wrote:Seriously, you're not going to get a straight answer here, that violates the Terms of Service. Did you hear those capital letters?
Which term does it violate? Promoting an illegal activity? Just curious.

Well, yeah, as I read it. Lots of room for interpretation if anyone cares to press it and disagree.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:58 pm

If the BM was about fire worship i think i would need to be on drugs to enjoy it. The truth, it seems, is stranger than fiction. Who would believe that people would like the playa, art, and other people for an entire week without a hidden agenda?

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:00 pm

Art? What art?

motskyroonmatick · Post by **motskyroonmatick** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:30 pm

Professor, On your orrigional question... It is like any city with a nightlife and the corresponding pleasures and habbits of the people that are going out to have a good time. Your best resource for statistics would be the cops and if they would share that data with you then you might be able to draw some conclusions based on statistical analysis of arrest rates versus population of some other city. No one interested in the long term survival of the city will collect the data you are looking for because it would be used as the arrow in Achilies heel for BRC.

You mentioned the concept...utopia.
It is an awfull lot of work for a utopia that is hot and dusty where showers come from a bag. Nothing can prepare you for the cultural and societal experience of Black Rock City. You can be prepared for the enviornment in an earthly sense though. Bring a shitload of water and a mind that is prepared to never be the same. Try to arrive on monday. If something of yours breaks bring it to me.

motskyroonmatick · Post by **motskyroonmatick** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:35 pm

you wrote--If the BM was about fire worship i think i would need to be on drugs to enjoy it. The truth, it seems, is stranger than fiction. Who would believe that people would like the playa, art, and other people for an entire week without a hidden agenda?[quote]

People are social.

dr.placebo · Post by **dr.placebo** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:35 pm

Let's assume for the moment that this is an honest question, although the comment about "fire worship" alerts my inner skeptic.

In 2006 there were 164 citations and arrests at Burning Man, according to BLM:

http://www.peoplelandandwater.gov/blm/b ... s-this.cfm

Which works out to one C+A for every 238 people (ignoring multiple citations to the same person). Some unspecified percentage is for drug violations, and the citations vastly outnumbered the arrests. But if the drug use is actually rampant then I would expect a higher C+A number.

Based solely on my own haphazard sampling of the playa the drug use is not at all flagrant, and most people have received the message to be discreet, if not completely legal. Given the conditions on the playa it's certainly unwise to be impaired.

And because law enforcement is permitted to go trolling on ePlaya, tribe, and elsewhere, you should realize that trust is not given lightly in these venues.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:48 pm

Thank you for your info Dr. Placebo, sincerely. I also encourage your skepticism. My thoughts on drug use aside an event like the BM should be protected from anyone who would place it's future in peril. I'm seriously just curious. Probably the best thing is just to go and see; and from what i've heard such issues as this are not a concern because they are not the point of the event. I look forward to a mind opening experience.

Motskyroonmatick: I would take a shower from a bag anytime over the structure of the city life. My heaven takes place somewhere between the flintstones and jetsons.
Assuming that people are social by nature i still feel that commercialism and urbanization of the human race has cost us that true human interaction of relying on both ourselves and each other. Most of my interactions with new people involve making sure the AM/PM clerk gave me the right change. We don't need each other... in fact it feels like we have to interact instead of wanting to. That is the unfortunate side effect of a market based social structure. We serve one another, but most people do it because it's in their job description.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:33 pm

Probably the best thing is just to go and see; and from what i've heard such issues as this are not a concern because they are not the point of the event. I look forward to a mind opening experience.

Yes, going will certainly be the best way for you to find your answers. I've only been once, in 2006, and wasn't looking for drugs. I got offered pot twice, and turned it down both times. I got offered alcohol a lot more often, then again, at those times I hanging out in bar camps!

If you want drugs, you can probably find them (just like anywhere else). If you don't want drugs, and you use common sense, avoiding them is certainly possible (and, quite frankly, safer!) You don't need drugs to have fun out there.

I want to go back just because I like taking a break from the everyday world, and Burning Man allows me to escape the commercial, profit oriented pressure of our modern lifestyle. (Too much pressure to be efficient, on time, and under budget. Too much pressure on maximizing profit. Bleah.)

Also, it is rather like taking a trip to a foreign country, without needing to go through the hassles of actually leaving the USA.

B.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:00 pm

mdmf007 wrote:The drugs, tits, booze are all just a cover for our pagan fire worshipping.

WORD

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:07 pm

The Professor wrote:The truth, it seems, is stranger than fiction. Who would believe that people would like the playa, art, and other people for an entire week without a hidden agenda?

Crap.. we have been exposed. Yes you ae right.. we do have a hidden agenda. Just watch the Wickerman.. we will get the crops to grow on the playa.

The Professor · Post by **The Professor** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:20 pm

I wouldn't be that surprised. Some believe that the power of communal willpower can do anything. (With faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains).... If you believe in stuff like that.

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:53 pm

enforcement is non-existant, hell man.. i will hook you up. just go to a camp called kidsville, kinda say in a low voice the keyword 'nambla' a few times and eventually you will get on some damn good bud. we're talking best of humbolt.