RAVE INQUEST HOLDS KEY TO SAVING LIVES: EXPERTS

Toronto's most recent rave death might have been prevented if the
city and province had acted on recommendations from the inquest into
an ecstasy-related death last summer, experts say.

An autopsy yesterday couldn't determine why the 16-year-old Brampton
boy died, but police say he swallowed several pills at a downtown
rave. His name is being withheld at the request of his family.

"He was really messed up," said Jessie Brown, 20, a rave enthusiast
who was standing outside the Digital night club on Mercer Street near
King and John streets when the boy was carried out around 3:30 a.m.
on Sunday.

It will take weeks for toxicology tests to determine whether the
death is Toronto's fourth ecstasy-related rave fatality since 1998.

A coroner's inquest into one of the recent deaths, that of Ryerson
University student Allen Ho, resulted in 19 recommendations last
summer.

The jury suggested the city and province give more money to
harm-reduction programs, which teach ravers safe habits such as
drinking plenty of water and refusing to buy drugs from untrustworthy
sources. But Will Chang, Toronto Dance Safety Committee organizer,
says it hasn't happened.

"There should be more funding for harm-reduction programs," Mr. Chang
said, adding that ravers would be less likely to overdose or take bad
combinations of drugs with proper education. "That could have
prevented this [recent death]."

The jury had also said the province should enact tougher regulation
of raves, as mandated in a private member's bill then before the
legislature. But the bill's champion, deputy Liberal leader Sandra
Pupatello, said the government let her Raves Act die on the order
sheet at the end of the latest session.

"They're dilly-dallying around instead of trying to create a safe
environment for young people," Ms. Pupatello said. She plans to
reintroduce the bill when the legislature sits again.

Another idea offered by the jury was charging a 50-cent ticket surtax
on rave events at public venues to fund education projects. But the
concept floundered in municipal bureaucracy, said Joyce Bernstein, an
epidemiologist with Toronto Public Health.

Some recommendations did make an impact, though.

The call for more education prompted the city health department to
produce new pamphlets and a safety video which aired on MuchMusic,
Ms. Bernstein said.

The jury also expressed concern about the easy availability of
ecstasy's chemical building blocks, and the federal government is
currently drafting legislation to restrict certain chemicals used to
manufacture illegal drugs. The rules should be written by the end of
the year, said Paul Saint-Denis, a senior lawyer at the federal
Justice Department.

Perhaps the most significant change since last year's inquest has
been rave promoters' growing concern with safety, Mr. Chang said.
Whereas last year up to 80 per cent of raves allowed underage
revellers, he said, now only 10 per cent of raves -- including the
party at the Digital club -- are all-ages events.

"Despite what happened this weekend," Mr. Chang said, "the events are
much safer than before."

Promoters have also become more scrupulous about hiring enough
security and providing free drinking water, Mr. Chang said, adding
that both were adequate at the Digital club that night.

"If they're going to sneak in some pills in their underwear or
something there's nothing you can do but try to teach them some
safety," Mr. Chang said. "What's a shame is that money for these
programs is drying up -- while drug use among teens is on the rise."