# Furry Conventions have a drug and alcohol problem



## Yakamaru (Dec 8, 2017)

Topic name says it all.






This fandom have a drug and alcohol problem.


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## Mikazuki Marazhu (Dec 8, 2017)

Well never mind the alcohol. Where do people get drugs? 
We really need to build that wall.


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## Yakamaru (Dec 8, 2017)

Mikazuki Marazhu said:


> Well never mind the alcohol. Where do people get drugs?
> We really need to build that wall.


To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi: "Gimme those drugs or you get the 'saber, you cunt".


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## Simo (Dec 8, 2017)

"Furry Conventions have a drug and alcohol problem"

So does all of Las Vegas, 24/7, and much of America...I'm not sure whoever made this gets out of the house much : P

It's weird, furries can seem to live in a sort of 'bubble' sometimes.


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## Sarachaga (Dec 8, 2017)

In my opinion, it's not just the furries who are in that situation. I go out a lot, and from what I can see, a lot of people have an alcohol and drug problem. 
People are not careful enough when they take these things, but it's not limited to the fandom. When I go to bars, I see a lot of people who are on drugs. It's fairly common.


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## Simo (Dec 8, 2017)

Also, there's a ton of people, of all walks of life, taking a lot of drugs in America, from soccer moms, to the homeless. It's not just this or that group. 

It's estimated that approximately 80 percent of  the global opioid supply is consumed in the United States, and a lot of this as innocent enough looking pills. So I'm not buying into this notion that furries have a huge problem; go to a soccer match, a college football game, a frat party, and things are a lot worse than a furry con.


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## Yakamaru (Dec 8, 2017)

Simo said:


> "Furry Conventions have a drug and alcohol problem"
> 
> So does all of Las Vegas, 24/7, and much of America...I'm not sure whoever made this gets out of the house much : P
> 
> It's weird, furries can seem to live in a sort of 'bubble' sometimes.


Do you know how many overdoses on drugs happened during MFF last weekend? Going by social media alone we're looking at at least a dozen if not more.

It's a con, not a drug dealer's den or a sex hotel. It's meant to be family friendly, aka, no degenerate crap. I give zero fucks what you do in the privacy of your own home. When you're out in public your actions will reflect on the group(s) you decide to identify with. "That shit happens elsewhere as well" is not an argument. When going to a football match you EXPECT people to act like hooligans and the occasional fight occuring. When going to a frat party it's expected that alcohol and even drugs to be involved. It's a matter of purpose with the event.

There's a reason more and more Furries are getting sick of this shit and are starting to talk about it. The actions of people with zero control and self-awareness are ruining the image of the fandom and the rest of us.

Is it unique? No.
Is it a problem? Yes.
Should people behave accordingly to the social event taking place? Yes.
Should it be addressed instead of being ignored? Yes.
Should people have a smidget of common sense when out in public? Yes.

Then we have this beauty:






HIV testing? At a con?

You can't solve a problem by ignoring it or making excuses for it.


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## Simo (Dec 8, 2017)

I still don't see it as a very singular problem to furries, or one that occassions some sudden panic. Certainly, anytime somebody does too many drugs or drinks way too much, it's a problem, at a con, or not at a con, yes...going to any type of convention where people are celebrating, I'd expect a degree of excess; for a con of some 7,000 people, it doesn't strike me that there is suddenly an epidemic, raging though the fandom, and cons generally.

I'm also not going to a furry con, expecting some G-rated Disneyland, in any event : P Most cons do limit participation by minors, as well, in some form. I agree, it would be helpful to try to solve the problems of the abuse of drugs at cons, but I don't feel as if there is some sudden image of 'degeneracy'. To me, it's more practical : Help the people who need help, and also, so that cons can continue to take place without incident, work to educate people about the dangers of their behavior.

Also, HIV testing is a good idea...they have a lot of places here that do free tests around the city, for any age. I'd rather have people be safe, than sorry. The day furs stop having sex in hotel rooms, or anyone, for that matter, is not going to happen. I mean, you're not going to stop people from having sex, furry con, or otherwise. I'm more concerned that people are healthy, than having a g rated image.


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## Ciderfine (Dec 12, 2017)

This is a big issue, not with just what the FDA calls drugs or consumables but in the general party scene. These cons are giants clusterfucks of gasoline, acid and lava waiting to happen. People talk a lot about the good of the cons, but we only hear very little of the bad due to the whole hive mind idea "Dont ruin this for us" mentality I see often on the left or in cults.

A lot of other issues are suppressed. I know there's; a ton of booze, cuz in all honesty how can most people sit and enjoy a rave of shitty indie or scrapped music. I know to satan's soul there is not one good furry musician or ever was but the drug thing is hit or miss into days toxic "progressive" society. The big issue is its personal to a lot of people, adults having fun, doing adult things in hotels at this giant zoo of a party. No one wants to call out their friends or "fur family"  but illegal shit is illegal.

There is no real standard for the fandom, cons are disasters because its a group of "where the wild things are" Heavy regulation on who gets in should be important. I know as hell certain cons have banned certain people for life there, it shouldn't be so hard to say "Hey take off the fursuits head, lets see some ID".

The HIV thing is scary...I mean I know the kinky ass shit that goes on behind closed doors but mixed with overdoses on drugs, booze. I;m shocked we don't have mass rape and STD epidemics in full. Holy shit, and people thought I was sour and "ugly" for not wanting to go to cons.

No wonder vegas said no.


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## Yakamaru (Dec 12, 2017)

Thing is, you can't suppress or ignore the negative aspects. They are simply going to build up over time until they potentially are impossible to deal with. And the media is going to make a big fuss over it and exaggerate. Which is what I'd like to try and prevent. If you're at Disney Land you don't go and snort coke off of a hooker's ass in a hotel room, do you?

People need to act and behave according to the social event taking place. Cons that are meant to be family-friendly especially need to take this into account with its members. Attendees that doesn't behave must be given a warning first. If they don't listen, get kicked out. Have some god damn self-control and show some restraint when in in a public area.


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## -..Legacy..- (Dec 12, 2017)

As long as they are in the actual Con space, they should be respectable.

The hotel room is not the same space, however.  People have their vices, sure. But it's still their business behind closed doors.  It's not a furry thing.  It's a party thing.  A con is a big ass party where people get to meet all the people from online.  They are going to overdo it sometimes, and it will become public view.


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## Crimcyan (Dec 12, 2017)

I love this thread

Everything here needed to be said, most furries who go to these cons are too blinded by the fandom to realize all the horrible thing's that happen.

The "pill party".. Do you want to die? Beacuse that's how you die.

The HIV testing room at a con make this fandom look like it's centered around sex.
This con also had a table for bad dragon aswell, although it was in the adults only section it still seems a bit iffy to be selling dildo's at a "family oriented" event.


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## Yakamaru (Dec 12, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> As long as they are in the actual Con space, they should be respectable.
> 
> The hotel room is not the same space, however.  People have their vices, sure. But it's still their business behind closed doors.  It's not a furry thing.  It's a party thing.  A con is a big ass party where people get to meet all the people from online.  They are going to overdo it sometimes, and it will become public view.


Indeed. Problem is, their actions seem to be for the most part ignored, which is going to incentivize and amplify such socially unacceptable behaviour from even more people. People can and must be held accountable for their actions when at cons. Especially if they have negative consequences on the rest of the con-goers as a group.

A con is a party that's PG-13 unless it's an adult-only con. No alcohol, drugs, sex or other adult-themed actions/events. You often see it's a few rotten apples spoiling the entire tree. It's even more a problem when a lot of the healthy apples ignore the rotten apples, allowing the entire tree to be spoiled through inaction.

When those around you say you're doing nothing wrong or completely ignore it, you will eventually start believing it yourself. And down the rabbit hole we go, towards less and less acceptable behaviour and less self-awareness.


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## Troj (Dec 12, 2017)

I'd say the fandom definitely has a problem with substance overuse and abuse, yes.

What I don't know for certain is if this is a problem with furries especially, or if it's just problematic "spillover" from the other groups furries happen to belong to.

Do other geek fandoms have these issues, and to what degree? I don't know enough about other fandoms myself to be able to say.

Oh, and on the other note, considering that several furries contracted HIV from one individual at AC a couple of years back, I'm all for having an HIV testing room. At the very least, it might remind people to be careful.


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## Ciderfine (Dec 12, 2017)

Troj said:


> I'd say the fandom definitely has a problem with substance overuse and abuse, yes.
> 
> What I don't know for certain is if this is a problem with furries especially, or if it's just problematic "spillover" from the other groups furries happen to belong to.
> 
> ...




Oh my god thats horrible, AC of all places. RIP


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## Deleted member 82554 (Dec 12, 2017)

Was considering posting this a while back, I'm just glad one of the popufurs had the balls to bring it up, and he's right.

Come to think of it, Kothorix brings up controversial topics like this often, so does Genesis Wolf.


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## Yakamaru (Dec 31, 2017)

Troj said:


> I'd say the fandom definitely has a problem with substance overuse and abuse, yes.
> 
> What I don't know for certain is if this is a problem with furries especially, or if it's just problematic "spillover" from the other groups furries happen to belong to.
> 
> ...


...Can I marry your common sense?


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## Kiaara (Dec 31, 2017)

So do my band's percussion section, but you don't hear us complanin'!

(Lol)


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## Troj (Dec 31, 2017)

Yakamaru said:


> ..Can I marry your common sense?



Sure! But it's polyamorous, just to warn.


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## KILL.MAIM.KILL (Jan 1, 2018)

If I had to spend time in a hotel with hundreds of people in uncanny mascot suits, I'd want to be high too.


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## kaade law (Jan 11, 2018)

Simo said:


> Also, there's a ton of people, of all walks of life, taking a lot of drugs in America, from soccer moms, to the homeless. It's not just this or that group.
> 
> It's estimated that approximately 80 percent of  the global opioid supply is consumed in the United States, and a lot of this as innocent enough looking pills. So I'm not buying into this notion that furries have a huge problem; go to a soccer match, a college football game, a frat party, and things are a lot worse than a furry con.


We aren’t talking about others here it doesn’t matter if it’s worse somewhere else the point is that it’s bad in our current fandom and shouldn’t happen


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## Troj (Jan 11, 2018)

^^^However, that the society at large is dealing with this lets us know that it's not just a furry problem, so furries don't need to feel uniquely guilty or ashamed about it. Looking at the larger society can also potentially provide us with ideas about how we might better understand and address substance abuse issues in the furry community.

But, saying that "everybody's" dealing with substance abuse right now certainly shouldn't be an excuse to just ignore or gloss over the problem in the fandom; you're right.


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## Pipistrele (Jan 11, 2018)

Welp, furry conventions don't have the "used diapers placed on cars" problem anymore, so there's some improvement, I guess.


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## dogryme6 (Mar 15, 2018)

Oh... Oh dear god.
Also, that pill party thing. What if an anti-furry snuck in disguised as a furry and put cyanide pills in there? What if some random druggie put the new "synthetic drugs" in there? There is no control and it makes me scream "HERESY!"
*sigh* I really wish we had complete and totalitarian control over drugs. Completely illegal, and possession of the stuff is punishable by death. That is my mindset, my DREAM, and you cannot make me change it.


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## Procompy (Mar 15, 2018)

I go to a lot of gaming and anime conventions and while I'll sometimes hear talk of highschoolers and younger college kids drinking too much in their rooms, I've never seen an ambulance show up more than once during a 3 day con. Furry cons have a reputation for refusing to enforce proper regulations on it's attendees to this extent, and a lot of people I know refuse to have anything to do with the furry crowd because of this. Cons are a gathering of like-minded people to appreciate a subject matter, buy nice art and related content, and attend informational panels. If you want to get piss drunk with friends and try new drugs, please don't do it in a professional setting like a convention.


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