Ecstasy, your skin begins tingling as a warm rush flows throughout your body, rejoicing in the soft caresses of those around you. Pure magic as all your muscles relax yet you feel a great surge of energy. The music is pounding and the lights are flashing, you have an overwhelming sense of being. Truly in the moment, you dont think or care about what happened one minute ago or what is going to happen in the next. All inhibitions float away as you bask in a sea of bliss, intimately connected with everyone around you. You simply feel so good that you can cry. This describes the typical experience users have while using MDMA. Within the past 20 years, the rave culture, along with MDMA use, has grown tremendously, rising from the underground into the forefront of the mainstream media and party culture. Much controversy and fear has followed MDMA's huge increase in popularity, spread by the media through a few horror stories. Along with the growing popularity in the media, much research and psychological study has been done to understand the substance. There are countless stories of the MDMA experience ranging from life changing to life ending, yet the mainstream media only reports on the latter. Like all things, MDMA must be used in moderation, and while several blindly devour it on impulse, many rationally use it with an intended purpose.My research explores the spiritual and therapeutic benefits of MDMA in the context of rave culture, determines the overall perception of the drug, and investigates why people use it in the mainstream college culture of the University of California Santa Barbara. Countless positive experiences of MDMA use make this drug widely sought after in youth as personal stories spread through a matrix of interaction between users within a drug subculture and then non-users, consequently initiating new users. Widespread interaction creates an informed user, decreasing the risks of taking the drug, a positive perception of the drug in youth, and sets ideals for a MDMA experience. In March 2003, the outbreak of iTunes sparked the rapid growth of EDM culture. Electronic music was the first genre to embrace the Internet, as DJs were the first group of artists to offer free singles on social media websites and music blogs. Artists created free versions EDM that reflect[ed] their local experiences and identities.(Ferrigno, Dayal) The Internet has thus aided EDMs development into a global phenomenon. creating immense profits from concerts and live appearances, rather than traditional album sales. As a result, the demand for music festivals and other live music events has surged as well as the demand for MDMA has increased as well, as many adolescents in particular choose to participate in recreational drug use at live events. This is what gives EDM its severely negative connotation. The LA times deepened the publics negative view of EDM by publishing a recent article that investigated the dangers of raves and the drug culture strongly associated with them. The article targets Insomniac Inc. producer Pasquale Rotella: Since 2006, at least 14 people who attended concerts produced by Rotellahave died from overdoses or other drug related incidences. defends his music culture(Reynolds). Clearly, if the US Government hasnt come up with the magic bullet to quell the problem of drugs in this country, argues Raddon, it is not reasonable to expect an event promoter to pull this kind of trick out of his hat either.(Raddon) Basic Laws of Probability, the more people that show up to these festivals, the larger the risk is that something goes awry. This isnt unique to this music. This is a universal principle. Raddon is correct in stating that EDM promoters are not responsible for mitigating the drug problem in the United States. He fails to acknowledge, however, that there is ind