Publication title: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Publication date: April 5, 2000
Document type: Editorial
Article author: Kerry Diotte
Transcribed by: MW
Here’s advice for people who are panicking over reports of wild raves in Edmonton: Take a Valium.
OK, so maybe that's not the best advice, considering the drug ecstasy is widely used by teens at such all night dances.
I guess we don't need to introduce more drugs into the equation. So sip some tea and calm down.
The recent controversy stems from the fact police say eight teens who attended a weekend rave at Northlands Sportex wound up in hospital after apparently ingesting ecstasy.
It's a scary thought if you're a parent with a kid who frequents raves.
Let's be honest – it’s the drug use thing which causes the most concerns - and as The Sun’s Mike Jenkinson noted yesterday, there's not much anyone can do about kids experimenting with dope.
(The obvious key question is, what kind of parent allows their 14-year-old to stay out all night?)
As a teenager in the early 1970’s, our drugs of choice were pot, hash, mescaline, acid and booze. Today, ecstasy is king.
My pals and I did very stupid things as teens. including ingesting copious quantities of booze and drugs, then driving at breakneck speed to remote locations so we could party some more.
It's a miracle we didn't die - since everyone drove under the influence.
The incident which smartened me up back then was a brush with death.
One night three of us had all indulged heavily and were driving afterwards on the Trans-Canada High-way. I fell asleep and my vehicle strayed into the path of another car.
Had my friend not grabbed the wheel and corrected our path, we’d have been killed.
That was the same night I swear I saw an enormous sea turtle in a roadside ditch - but I don’t even want to talk about that.
Suffice to say, most of us grow out of such stupid behaviour.
That's definitely something people have to keep in mind - especially today when a city council committee will study what can be done about the rave parties.
The city now has a ballroom-dancing bylaw and it's thought any possible regulation of raves might be accomplished by tweaking that law. (Hmm, raves - ballroom dancing - there's a joke in there somewhere but it escapes me.)
An administration report going to the committee today logically concludes it might not be wise to make a whole lot of rules and regulations on raves.
Sure, the city could rule that nobody under 18 could attend a rave, but the report rightly concludes that wouldn't solve teenage drug abuse.
There are those critics, including Coun. Robert Noce, who've questioned why Northlands would allow raves at its facilities, but that's a short-sighted view.
Even if kids are on drugs. Northlands is the best place for such gatherings.
I agree. It’s creepy that most raves don't have age restrictions (since no liquor is served), meaning your 15-year-old daughter could be hit on by a 35-year-old slimebag.
Yet most parents would have to admit they'd probably rather see their kids attend a rave at a known local facility instead of winding up at some totally unsupervised bush party.
For one thing, kids can get to such facilities via public transit instead of having to drive.
Medical help is close at hand at such a place if something goes wrong and city cops and fire officials can cruise through to keep an eye on things.
I can understand some parents and councillors being concerned there's nothing in legislation currently to make sure raves have enough wash -ooms or proper security and medical staff on hand.
However, council should steer clear of trying to legislate rules for raves.
That could backfire big time by driving such parties deeper under-ground.
Then we could have real trouble.
(Reach Kerry at kdiotte@incentre.net)
Photo Caption: Kerry Diotte (The City)
No comments:
Post a Comment