I went to a lot of raves, like 20+ years ago. Before the underage kids flooded the scene and basically ruined it. Had a lot of fun, hotties in skimpy outfits rubbing all over people was a high point. Massages while rolling? Yes, PLS. There was some stuff that I felt like I liked...TOO much.
I've never had an issue walking away from any drug. But I also wasn't sure how far I was willing to push the boundary, just to see. It felt like it was really easy to get to the point that someone is offering you something and the next thing you know "Oh hey, I was wrong...I **CAN** get addicted!". I didn't get wrecked, but I can see how someone could get to that point fairly easy.
Plus there were some things I had real issues with. People who only hang with you or contact you when they're looking for drugs was a major one. Just fuck off, ok? People getting busted and then giving up the names of everyone they knew was another. Then there was the cost. And the illegal aspect of everything. Plus it was weird how the scene shaped your friend groupings so much.
I tried going to a couple raves completely straight, no drugs, after I quit, and that helped break me. Music wasn't half as good as I thought it was. I was actually shocked how terrible the 'live' music was. I saw the hot chicks as the vapid dipshits they really were. It was like I'd spent a lot of time viewing everything through the lens of the drugs, and when I quit, I suddenly saw how bad it all was. Without the drugs, it was like walking into some weird Juggalo event. White trash everywhere, music I thought was a 10 was really a 4, chicks I thought were 10s were really just 4s...
I remember chicks walking around, looking for people who were rolling so they could score. You'd be standing there, and feel a finger trace up the back of your neck. Every nerve ending suddenly stands to attention. They'd look to see how you react. Then look at your eyes. Then start giving you a little 'attention' as they try to work in questions about what you have. You'd be just about lost in the sensation. But man, that was so weird when I'd quit and had that happen to me. Those interactions went so differently it was scary. Within a few seconds they knew you weren't rolling, and they were off to the next person. I remember just watching the crowd and thinking "That is some bullshit. Fuck that, LOL"