RAVES: HARMLESS FUN OR DRUG PARTIES?

Police need to be on the lookout for what some are calling warning
signs that raves are a growing trend in Southwest Michigan. But the
trick will be to react to possible trouble - not overreact.

Raves - all-night parties that often attract sizable crowds of
teenagers and young twenty-somethings - are not exactly new. They've
been a form of youth entertainment in larger cities for at least a
decade.

Problems arise when the all-nighters attract drug dealers and kids
looking to get high. Of late the drugs ecstasy and Ketamine are two
of the hotter "club" drugs that police around Michigan have found at
some rave parties.

In Detroit last spring police handed out 85 citations - most for
loitering - when they busted an illicit rave where drugs and weapons
were said to be in abundance. In Grand Rapids recently there was a
string of burglaries at veterinarian offices where Ketamine - a cat
tranquilizer - was the target of thieves. Grand Rapids police also
have been vigilant about the problems associated with rave parties.

Some possible ravers seem to have their eye on Southwest Michigan.
The Michigan Flywheelers in South Haven recently considered renting
out their grounds for an all-night party, then thought better of it
when they got wise to what some raves are all about.

We don't blame the Flywheelers for wanting to avoid any trouble. Yet
young people gathering for a rave doesn't necessarily equal trouble.
Police should remember that if they are forced to deal with such
parties. In addition, it's likely that any gathering of a large group
of partiers will yield a certain amount of illegal drugs, even if
there isn't a single teen-ager in the crowd.

We say that, but add that parents should know the types of drugs that
may circulate at raves and the dangers associated with them. Ecstasy
and Ketamine are two, along with the "date-rape" drug GHB and more
traditional drugs.

For parents with teens living at home, the best deterrent against
seeing their son or daughter get into trouble wherever they may
happen to be, is vigilant parental involvement. If more parents took
this responsibility more seriously, the police wouldn't have as much
to worry about.