Conceptions of risk in the lives of club drug-using youth.

This paper describes current patterns of club drug use and local conceptions of risk among New York City area youth. The data is drawn from a NIDA-funded ethnographic study of club drug initiation among "Bridge and Tunnel" youth. The paper entails an examination of the harmony and discontinuity between folk models of risk within this population and professional models of risk. The author explores how club drug-using youth conceive of risks related to club drug use, specifically ecstasy, and how such conceptions compare and contrast with current professional models of risk. These conceptions of risk are crucial to understand, as they form an informal logic by which club drug practices are guided. Ultimately, the author examines how the relationship between folk models and professional models might inform health promotion efforts targeting youth.