FRANCE MAY PUT FOOT DOWN ON YOUTH RAVE PARTIES

PAULE, France -- To the young, they are free-for-alls of drug-induced
revelry and thumping techno beats in the bucolic French countryside. To
President Jacques Chirac, they are a growing problem.

Rave parties, Dionysian fests involving abundant marijuana, heroin, cocaine
and especially the designer drug Ecstasy, have been around for about a
decade in Europe. But now, with five rave-related deaths reported in a year
and increasing property damage, they are drawing the attention of France's
political establishment.

Some of the secretly organized parties draw tens of thousands from across
Europe. Others are small regional affairs.

Elsewhere in Europe, there are larger, much more organized and urban rave
parties, such as Berlin's Love Parade, which drew at least 800,000 last
month, and Zurich's Lake Parade, which drew 750,000. In France, typical
raves take place in rural areas.

News travels by word of mouth, and authorities are almost never forewarned.

Since July 2000, at least five people have died in connection with rave
parties in France.

The political battle over the raves began in April when conservative
lawmaker Thierry Mariani introduced a bill requiring organizers to give
notice to authorities. Many ravers protested, saying spontaneity is an
essential element.

Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin was unable to convince the leftist
majority in the National Assembly to back the bill, which died last month.

But Chirac revived the issue, using his traditional July 14 television
interview to say a new law might be needed.