The youth dance club scene has emerged center stage as a global phenomenon. Despite this increasing globalization, our knowledge of the phenomenon is relatively restricted to single cultures and locales. Unfortunately, researchers may miss the extent to which similar processes are developing in a number of different locales. Instead of examining drug consumption and drug-using practices within only one culture, we need to compare two or more contrasting social and cultural contexts. This paper discusses both some of the global developments in the use of Ecstasy and club drugs and the social settings in which they occur, and the issues and obstacles that arise when cross-national research is contemplated. Using examples from our own current research in two contrasting cultures—San Francisco and Hong Kong—we provide the groundwork for understanding the dialectical process between global and local dimensions of the problem and the associated risks of use.
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