e-prevention and risk reduction in festive environments. Know more, risk less

THE ASSOCIATION PLAY SAFE is instrumental in meeting new needs for the prevention of risk behaviour, particularly in the club scene, and advocates for more responsible partying.

PLAY SAFE is particularly concerned and committed in the fight against addictions to new synthetic “drugs” (also called designer drugs, or legal highs).

PLAY SAFE has been active as a recognized association since 2012. The association first carried out fundraising activities on World AIDS Day under the patronage of Victoria Abril, Bob Sinclar, Antoine Clamaran… who got the following message out to everyone:

“PLAY SAFE is committed to the promotion of responsible partying and wishes to convey a simple prevention message: always protect yourself and protect yourself by all means and in all possible ways! PLAY SAFE, ALWAYS & ALL WAYS!”

PLAY SAFE launched the prevention and information website www.playsafe.fr on psychoactive products, which also deals with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs/STIs) under the slogan “KNOW MORE, RISK LESS.”

Faced with the popularisation and multiplication of new synthetic drugs and in a context of an increase in accidents, there was indeed an urgent need to react and to rethink PLAY SAFE’s actions.

It appears that most designer drugs users, including GHB/GBL, now mainly buy psychotropic products from selling sites online. Hence, a significant portion of the synthetic drugs currently consumed is purchased online and no longer via traditional trafficking channels.

One obvious observation is the need to rethink and develop prevention in response to this change in the “drug trafficking sector.”
The use of social marketing makes it possible to propose “e-disruptive” prevention actions for a wider visibility of risk and damage reduction (RDR) online.

PLAY SAFE'S ACTIONS

PLAY SAFE’S ACTIONS cover several areas:

Online

On the Internet
marketing and communication actions to increase the visibility of RDR-related websites to counterbalance the visibility and accessibility of sales sites promoting new synthetic drugs
PLAY SAFE solicits online search engines to involve them in a participatory process so that the site www.playsafe.fr may appear before the sales sites in search results.

On the darknet
Actions to design and anticipate possible prevention actions on the darknet

Offline:

Fieldwork
Training and awareness-raising in festive environments for clubbers and young audiences
Organisation of fundraising events to fight discrimination and risk behaviour.

Whistleblower, lobbying
PLAY SAFE is campaigning for Internet actors to be more responsible with the objective of involving them in the Risk and Damage Reduction effort. In this context, PLAY SAFE organizes and participates in press conferences and meetings with public authorities.

THE FOUNDER

At the origin of the PLAY SAFE project, its president Michel Mau, who possesses a panoptic vision both theoretical in social marketing and practical in the field, organized the first PLAY SAFE charity evenings in 2008 successively in Le Printemps and BHV department stores to raise funds for AIDS associations.

It is in 2012 that the actors of PLAY SAFE constitute an association under his impulse.

Thus, Michel MAU has the opportunity to build on his knowledge to provide an impetus and a new approach to information and disruptive online prevention of high-risk behaviour.