The making of info-e

We started going to raves in the fall of 1991. And like many people in the rave scene, we also explored Ecstasy. Fascinated at how it related to dance and physical energy, we began experimenting with the chemical in other contexts, away from the rave scene: in wilderness; in a park; in a quiet house.

As we became more curious about this chemical, we spent a lot of time reading the available literature. We began to learn about the history of psychedelics, including Ecstasy, and the ancient connection between humans and these chemicals. We were fortunate enough to meet people who had done important research in psychedelic chemicals, and so had access to reliable, first-hand scientific information.

Crossing over

One evening in early 1992, we attended a gathering north of San Francisco of psychedelic researchers and explorers. Later that night, when we were driving towards a rave being held in the East Bay, we talked about how there seemed to be a large gap between the researchers and the ravers. The researchers were confident of their scientific knowledge and philosophical insight gained through Ecstasy, but seemed unaware of the feeling of community and energy found in large-scale raves. And the ravers were masters of the emotional and physical energy brought on by Ecstasy, but were uninformed and misinformed of the history and physiological effects of the molecule.

As we crossed over the Bay Bridge, we realized we could be a bridge of knowledge between these two groups of psychic explorers. To the researchers, we could convey our own feelings of the ambience of a rave, and hopefully convince a few to cross over to the other side. And to the ravers, we could provide a context for this chemical -- where it came from, how to treat it, and how to treat oneself while partaking of it.

And so we decided to create an informational flyer on Ecstasy -- info-e.

We knew the information had to be both brief and practical. We wanted people to feel as if this was something they could read immediately, even in the dim lights of a warehouse surrounded by hundreds of dancing people.

And the flyer needed to be something that a person interested in Ecstasy could take home, study, and pass on. We wanted to open a door to other resources that delved more deeply into the science, philosophy, and history of the chemical.

And most importantly, we needed to ride the subtle line between pro-drug and anti-drug. We knew that evangelizing for Ecstasy use would do us more harm than good, in the eyes of the press, the law, and the popular majority. Conversely, adopting an authoritarian, parental tone and emphasizing the ill effects of the chemical would cause us to be ignored by our fellow ravers.

Finding the center

The first version of the info-e flyer ("number zero," as it was dubbed) contained minimal information (although with our ever-present "drink lots of water" slogan) on a double-sided single sheet of flourescent green paper, designed to be easy to distribute, easy to read, and easy to carry. We chose A Rave Called Sharon (at Caesar's Latin Palace, in the Mission district of San Francisco) as our "beta site," and arrived with handfuls of flyers.

We were really nervous, not exactly sure what would happen. What did happen was astounding: people came up to us and asked for extras for their friends, and started conversations, and asked us questions. So we dove in and created the larger and more complete flyer, and paid for the printing ourselves, and arrived at the Toon Town first anniversary with a whole bunch, and within half an hour the whole dance floor was waving these silly little "e" flyers in the air. It was quite a high.

Spiraling out

By the spring of 1992, we had distributed about 5,000 info-e flyers at about 10 events in San Francisco. They were universally well-received at the events. We also placed some in clothing and music stores frequented by ravers, such as Amoeba on Haight Street in San Francisco. Friends of ours who run a dance music record company inserted them into one of their record releases.

Organizers loved them too. Several promoters in the Bay Area were so supportive of our effort that they put us on guest lists, and a few even funded the printing of later versions of the flyer.

The flyer was reprinted and distributed in New York City, and we've heard of flyers being found in Southern California, Colorada, and North Carolina.

By the spring of 1993, we'd exhausted the supply of flyers (and ourselves), and had not planned to any more reprints. However, a promoter of Come Unity wanted to distribute info-e flyers at the event being held the weekend of Bicycle Day, April 17, the 50th anniversary of the discovery of LSD. We did a cosmetic redesign (and a few content changes) and the promoter printed 3,000 copies. Most were given away at Come Unity, although a few hundred were distributed at the Bicycle Day celebration that weekend.

(For more information on the discovery of LSD, see Albert Hofmann's Strange Mistake by Bobby Rabyd <ST001747@Brownvm.Brown.Edu> "a hypertext 'zine commemorating the 50th anniversary of the accidental discovery of LSD, 16 April, 1943. The document contains archives by authorities from Albert Hofmann to Abbie Hoffman, hypertext fac/tion on CIA-sponsored acid tests, and testimonials solicited from users all over the world." The zine is published in Storyspace, a Macintosh hypertext application.)

Into the future

No info-e flyers have been printed since the spring of 1993. However, Ecstasy continues to be popular, and research is beginning to have government and popular approval. By making info-e publicly available on the Net, we hope to spread this information to those of you who may not have seen us waving those flyers with the silly "e"...

Keep dancing, and remember to drink lots of water.

J & G

April 1994