Clubs and rave scenes have been a popular part of American and European youth culture since the 1990s. The drugs people take as part of the club experience are known as club drugs. These drugs vary in terms of their effects and their toxicity. An important element of club drugs is novelty, so no list of club drugs can pretend to be complete at any time. Commonly used club drugs include MDMA, GHB, ketamine, Rohypnol, methamphetamine, and LSD. Users see most of these drugs as relatively benign compared to "older" drugs such as cocaine. This perception is often mistaken.

The history of much drug use in the United States is cyclical. For example, the cocaine epidemic of the 1980s was in fact the second cocaine epidemic in this century, the previous one having ended in the 1930s. In the 1980s, just as in the 1930s, users...