THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

So another young person dies at a rave, possibly from an overdose of
Ecstasy. And another bewildered parent asks "Why?"

And the people who defended raves a year ago when we went through this
controversy at City Hall following an inquest into an Ecstasy-related death
at an unregulated rave, are now back on their soapbox defending the things.

Deja vu. The parents of Daniel Engson, 16, who died of a possible Ecstasy
overdose at a downtown rave on Saturday held at a club on Mercer St., said
they thought he'd be safe because no alcohol was being served. (At 16,
Engson met the minimum age recommended by an inquest into a previous
rave-related death.)

Police say, at this point, no charges are indicated against the club where
the rave was held.

That said, let's not kid the troops. This is an industry where big bucks
are involved.

Last year, the rave lobby often presented kids as spokesmen while lobbying
city politicians to keep raves as free of regulation as possible. But the
powers behind the scene were promoters.

Last summer, after an inquest into the 1999 Ecstasy-related death of Allen
Ho, 20, at an unregulated rave in a garage, the city worked out a protocol
for holding them on private and public property (the CNE's Better Living
Centre).

It covered such things as drug searches, notifying relevant city
authorities in advance and supplying drinking water, since raves are not
only crowded and hot, but drugs like Ecstasy elevate core body temperature.

We're not fans of raves. But they're a reality of city life and there's no
political will to stop them.

The city temporarily banned them last year, but soon after lifted the ban
following a massive protest and because it reasoned it was better to have
controls on regulated raves rather than no controls on unregulated ones.
Yes, there are drug searches at regulated raves. Is that a guarantee no
drugs will be smuggled in? Of course not.

Teens and parents need to understand that at many of these "all ages"
raves, where alcohol is not served, drugs like Ecstasy are available.

To be blunt, it really comes down to a case of let the buyer - and their
parents - beware.