Moral Panic

The moral panic that I have decided to talk about is the head shops. Head shops have been around for a very long time. They went un-noitced from the media for years. They began by selling equipment for growing cannibis plants e.g. lamps, lights, seeds etc. and some other paraphernalia related to cannabis i.e. bongs, pipes etc.This caught the attraction of some youths.

They then began to sell some “Brain Stimulants”. This started as a small selection of “legal smoke” which was a a legal high that simulated the feeling of smoking cannabis and then escalated into a big selection of pills that gave the feeling of ecstasy and products that resemble cocaine..

The media started this story in little columns within the newspaper explaining what happens with these products and how and where to get them. In turn, the media, in a way, advertised these drugs and what the do. This caught the attention of a lot of curious young people. the word about these drugs spread through the youth in Ireland. This started to create some panic and awareness.

The Head shops began to thrive as the demand sky-rocketed, Some head shops were open 24hrs a day. The mass media then brought the story to the front page of the news papers and had major stories on the news, in which they were successful in creating massive moral panic. They were extremely negative stories describing the situation as a major problem the among young people and what they are doing. This again just fueled the situation and resulted in hundreds of young people queuing up between 3-4 o clock in the early hours of a Sunday morning, creating an even bigger moral panic.

Rockers

The Rockers dates back to the Sixties with The Druids, The Mood and Lompoc. These bands were formed out of our love for Rock and Roll. In the 1950's and 1960's there were two groups, the mods and the rockers. They became rival gangs for a number of different reasons. Rockers enjoyed Rock and Roll, and their style consisted of jeans, boots and leather jackets. They loved driving motorcycles where the mods preferred scooters (That the Rockers called "Hairdryers"). They wore black leather and studs and had anti-authority beliefs. The Rockers lived for the present, with a scruffy, masculine, ‘bad boy’ image. The Rockers were essentially from the working class and despised any fashion. They each had the same hairstyle, shaggy with a bit of slick to it.

The music they listen to became a way of life for them. It is what we would refer to today as Heavy metal.

Ravers

Ravers Although many people may think that raves have only been in existence for the past eight to ten years, they actually began in the early 1980s. Raves began to grow in popularity in London by the mid 1980s. Raves quickly became so popular and were attended by so many people that they soon were held outside and became known as "All night parties". In coming up to the late 1980's the majority of the crowd changed from people in their twenties to people to teenagers. Because of this people that were trying to promote raves obtained the opportunity to create a style for the subculture and certain characteristics started to emerge for example; Clothing, Drugs, Music, and toys that all relate to rave.

The style of clothes became a big thing among ravers, there was no specific dress sense. The clothes that they wear are usually to keep them cool during raves as they will be doing alot of dancing, The use of drugs also increases their body temperature. The are clothes they were are usually bright colours. Ravers also bring things with them, an example would be glow sticks to enchance the visual stimulation that they receive from the drugs they have taken. Also a common thing that became common in Raves were lasers to enchance the same effect. The music they listen to is fast paced and had a loud base line i.e. Techno is an example of they music..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEPOYBV_5GA&feature=fvst

Here is link to planet love a major annual rave here in Ireland.