Pubdate: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Allen Garr BANNING RAVES NOT THE ANSWER The remarkable thing is that more kids aren't dying of drug overdoses at raves. It's a credit to the city's stringent policies for these events. In spite of the deaths last weekend of two people who attended an all-night dance party at the Pacific Coliseum, the solution is not to stop raves from taking place. Raves have been banned by the political ostriches in Surrey and New Westminster, but there's no appetite for that here. It's clear Vancouver's politicians realize the risk to kids if these activities are driven back underground. By most measures, the city's policy around licensing raves has worked, even though drug consumption is fairly widespread. As one promoter said to me: if you can't keep drugs out of prisons and school, how can you expect to keep them out of raves? For years before the city and rave promoters agreed to a set of guidelines in late 1999, these events, often involving thousands of young people, took place in every manner of unsafe location, from warehouses to basements. Kids were at risk simply by being at the site, never mind the drugs and booze and violence. The guy credited with pushing the city hardest to create a policy that would allow legal raves is Salim Lakhani, owner of Swing Kids Entertainment. It was his event where the two young people fell ill and later died in hospital. Lakhani started the business 10 years ago, when he was 17. Not long after, he began pushing the city to regulate and permit raves. He was part of the crowd with the punk haircuts who negotiated the policy with the city's licensing department and turned up to see council pass it two years ago. If you consider the hurdles a promoter has to jump through, you realize how tough the policy is. Every application has to be approved by the city, the police, the health department and the fire department. The promoters pay for the hall, the security, the paramedics and the city cops. At last weekend's event, there were 14 city cops, eight trained first-aid attendants and 95 security guards. Every person who entered was patted down for drugs, booze and weapons. They all also agreed to be searched at any time during the night. Even with that, you can be sure that nearly half of them were stoned. While Lakhani is obviously shaken by the incident and seriously thinking of canceling an event he'd planned for New Year's, he in no way feels he is responsible. Indeed, he did nothing wrong. He is a "Just Say No to Drugs" advocate. He has a lot of time for RCMP constable Scott Rintoul, Canada's top cop for raves and rave drugs, and the subject of David Carrigg's profile in the Courier three weeks ago. But the simple fact is that kids will put all manner of things in their mouths to get ripped, from Coke and aspirin to pot and acid to the potentially lethal cornucopia of illegal pharmaceuticals that turn up at raves and night clubs these days. And then there is booze, which still ranks as the most destructive of all drugs, both on its own and in combination with whatever else is being passed around. Testing drugs at rave sites for their purity, as one councillor naively suggested last week, is hardly a solution. Whoever allowed that would end up sanctioning the use of illegal drugs. And even if a specific pill was found to be, say, pure ecstasy, the ravers' drug of choice, pop too much of it and you could still overdose. Then who would carry the can for that? The city says it's reviewing its policy, but I don't expect much will change, nor should it. Kids will continue to take risks. We will do our best to reduce the potential harm. Most will survive. Some will go on to achieve great things and a very few will die. - --- MAP posted-by: Rebel