By DOUG BEAZLEY, Staff Writer
Published On: 2000-04-04
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Typist: MW
People in the city’s rave underground say they're taking their own steps to stop over-doses and rampant drug abuse at the popular dance parties.
Several rave-goers got together over the winter to form RaveSafe, a volunteer group that hands out pamphlets on recreational drug use at raves around town.
"Being ravers ourselves we started seeing a decline in the number of happy people showing up," said RaveSafe spokesman Mike Peebles.
"We're seeing more violence, new people coming just to do drugs, sexual assaults.”
RaveSafe's philosophy of “harm reduction” means it doesn't preach abstinence.
It offers information about the effects of the more popular rave drugs - ecstasy and methamphetamine - and their interactions with everything from prescription medication to booze.
Rave culture’s dodgy media image got darker over the weekend when six teens - wired on ecstasy, according to police - were taken to hospital after collapsing at the massive Ascension 2000 rave at the Northlands Sportex.
Peebles said he believes the negative media attention will mean age limits for rave attendance.
“And that a probably a good thing. The 14 and 15-year-olds don't need to be there," he said.
“But if the city wants controls, they shouldn't just point fingers.
“They should work with us and the promoters to come up with better guidelines for raves. We need some rules."
City councillors gets look at an administration report on raves Wednesday. Coun. Michael Phair said the report suggests there isn't much the city can do to control raves.
"I think we're going to have to do better than that," he said. "Maybe licensing conditions, age limits, controls on how large they can be and where they can be held.”
Ravers who attended Ascension 2000 gave it mixed reviews. While some praised the music and lavish light show, others condemned promoter Defstar for the stringent security, huge crowds and stiff ticket prices ranging from $20 up to $100.
“I would like to tell Defstar where to shove that argon laser," read one message on an Internet rave bulletin board.
"If y'all seriously didn't know that Ascension wasn't going to live up to the hype, you need to take a break from all the drugs,” read another 'Net message.
Another criticized rave-goers who "over-dosed" at the event. "Well, hey, MODERATION," it read. "You don’t need to do six Es.”
No comments:
Post a Comment