Do we really need a 'dab' of drug culture in our dancing?
From Betty White to the White House, people are doing the "dab," a trendy dance move that is shadowed by concerns over its perceived tie to cannabis culture.
The dance, which is basically performed by tucking your face into the crook of your elbow as though you were coughing into it, shares its name with a slang term for butane hash oil, a type of concentrated cannabis extract. Other terms can include "shatter," "honey," and "wax," depending on the material's consistency.
Fans of the dance defend it saying it鈥檚 nothing more than a fun fad, while others see it as a warning sign that drug culture has once again seeped into the mainstream.
As the debate over the dance builds, so too does the discussion about the potential dangers of the drug and its culture incursion to a younger set of users.
Super Bowl聽Sunday聽saw 鈥渄abbing鈥� make a full transition into American culture as 聽in a pre-game commercial聽in which she did the dab.
On Sunday, Twitter erupted with dab moments that rippled across the nation, including Michelle Obama with children performing the move at the White House.
鈥淲e got the whole world dabbing and they . First of all, dab is a strong way to smoke marijuana, right, it鈥檚 the purest form of marijuana,鈥� said hip hop performer Bow Wow in an聽Instagram聽video post. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely strong, so the dance comes from when you smoke it you cough.鈥�
The drug is typically smoked in a glass pipe or a modified bong, using a blowtorch.聽
Some have challenged the link between dancing the dab and smoking it, saying that the shared name is just a coincidence, with some arguing that the dance was the innocent creation of Clemson University football coach聽, which Swinney denies.
"I did not invent it and have no idea what it means," said Mr. Swinney in an email.
Wherever it began, it jumped into the mainstream when Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made it his new聽聽back in October of 2015.
It鈥檚 hard to untangle the dance from the drug culture says Rosean Lindsey, community advocate in Norfolk, Va., author of聽聽says in an interview, 鈥淚 saw this develop in New York where I come from. Kids do it [dab the drug] while they're dancing. And they smoke and cough.鈥�
鈥淭hey [musicians] created beats around it. They created a culture around it in hiphop,鈥� Lindsey says. 鈥淣ow that kid鈥檚 on the corner smoking a blunt is coughing into his arm like that, not because of the cough, but because of the culture that鈥檚 now in place. That cough, that dance are opportunities to represent.鈥�
Another example came during a January television聽interview聽with Seattle Seahawks players. Seahawks聽defensive linemen聽Cliff Avril聽and聽Michael Bennett聽were asked 鈥溾�� The first response is furtive looks and the answer, 鈥淭hat鈥檚, that鈥檚 illegal in Washington.鈥� (It isn't.)
Of course, drug references in music are nothing new. In 1928 Louis Armstrong recorded his classic "Muggles," which he named for a slang term for cannabis.聽In years past, it was the name 鈥�,鈥� short for molecule, for the drug MDMA, that worked its way into聽聽for a decade.
Lil Wayne [who starred in聽Sunday鈥檚聽] is also known for the popularization in his songs of 鈥樷�� or codeine/promethazine cough syrup mixed in with some Sprite in order to get high.
In August of 2014 the聽聽in Virginia held a聽聽where experts urged parents not to allow dabbing lyrics and other cultural references into their children鈥檚 lives.
, Ph.D., associate professor at the department of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia Southern University, and聽John Stogner of the University of North Carolina, partnered to聽write cautionary papers for聽聽about the use of 鈥渄ab.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure of the connection between the dance and the drug,鈥� says Mr. Miller in an interview. 鈥淏ut I am aware of the damage dabbing can do.鈥�
鈥淢aking it and inhaling it can cause serious burns, and the concentrated form of THC is dangerous,鈥� Miller says. 鈥淭he process of creating these products [called blasting] is extremely dangerous because butane is flammable and volatile, and a number of fires, explosions, and severe burns have been attributed to home blasting."
础听聽by the University at Albany, State University of New York reached the conclusion that while 鈥渦sing 鈥榙abs鈥� created no more problems or accidents than using flower cannabis. Participants did report that 鈥榙abs鈥� led to higher tolerance and withdrawal (as defined by the participants), suggesting that the practice might be more likely to lead to symptoms of addiction or dependence.鈥�
鈥淚 would encourage people to educate themselves on these trendy dances. The dance isn鈥檛 the problem, it鈥檚 losing the educational piece that worries me,鈥� Lindsey adds. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to stop people from doing something that鈥檚 trendy. But it鈥檚 valuable for parents to sit down with their kids to explain the history behind this dance because you need to know what you鈥檙e following. Understand what you鈥檙e representing.鈥�
Lindsey says, 鈥淢aybe you see your child doing this dance and think it鈥檚 cute. But what you aren鈥檛 seeing is the time when other kids in a different setting, who embrace that drug culture, see your child or teen doing it and think they鈥檙e down with drugs and start peer pressuring them. Don鈥檛 leave them unprepared.鈥�
