“Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford: Pathways to Urban Life Styles,” a new exhibit and event series at The Institute for Community Research (ICR), explores the spread, use and consequences of drugs for young adults (between ages 16-30) in the Greater Hartford area.  The exhibit focuses mainly on MDMA (Ecstasy) and Dust (PCP) use, detailing findings from two ICR projects over the last 10 years portrayed through comic book characters.  The information is displayed on over a dozen large vinyl panels, which feature quotes, survey data, and interpretations.  The panels were created through a collaboration between ICR and the Hartford Animation Institute.  Designed to be portable, they will travel to locations in Hartford, across Connecticut and to other sites in North America after the exhibit closes.  “Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford” opens in ICR’s Jean J. Schensul Community Gallery at the Institute for Community Research, 2 Hartford Square West, Ste. 100, Hartford, CT 06106, on Thursday, February 16, from 5 pm to 8 pm.  The exhibit will remain until March 27.

“The panels portray the experiences of youth with Ecstasy and Dust in their communities – their feelings, experiences and expectations,” says Raul Pino, MD, a Co-Investigator and Project Director of ICR’s two club drugs studies.  “Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford” tracks the history of Ecstasy in Connecticut, starting in the mid-1990s when teens attending raves in New York and Boston brought the drug to clubs in greater Hartford.  These party environments helped to incorporate Ecstasy use into mainstream youth culture through music, fashion and entertainment and then into Hartford’s Latino and African American youth networks.  After several Hartford clubs were closed in 2001, ICR research indicates that Ecstasy use became easily available on the streets, and widely used for pleasure.  Dust (which sometimes contains PCP) has been used by Connecticut urban youth and adults for the past decade. At one point between 1999 and 2002 as widely used as marijuana and less expensive, its numbing effect reduces fear of violence.  Risks associated with both drugs, which are illegal, include adulteration with unknown and dangerous substances; fear of reporting side effects, and overdosing, which in the case of dust, can result in violence.

A schedule of events highlighting the use of comic style communication of research and research findings will take place during the run of the exhibit.  For more information please contact Colleen Coleman at (860) 278-2044 ext 310 or colleen.coleman@icrweb.org. 

The Institute for Community Research is an independent, nonprofit organization that conducts applied research and community enhancement programs to promote equal access to health, education, and cultural resources.  “Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford: Pathways to Urban Life Styles,” a dissemination project of ICR study Urban Life Styles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth, is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse  (RFA DA-010101). 

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FUTURE ICR EVENTS:

The following events will all take place at The Institute for Community Research, 2 Hartford Square West, Ste. 100, Hartford, Ct. 06106.

Monday, February 27, 2006, 5-8 pm:  Francisco Ibanez-Carrasco, Ph.D., AIDS Activist, Vancouver, Canada, presents comic art posters produced with active drug users.

Friday, March 24, 2006, 5-8 pm:  Sally Galman, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, speaks about comic novels and signs her ethnographic methods text based on comic art.