BOY, 16, DIES AFTER SWALLOWING PILLS AT DOWNTOWN RAVE

Adam Segal STAFF REPORTER A 16-year-old Toronto boy is dead after
swallowing several pills at a rave party in a downtown nightclub
early yesterday.

Police say the boy, who attended the ``Chronic Sessions'' rave party
at the Digital Night Club on Mercer St. near Spadina Ave. and King
St. W., bought the pills from a someone in the club and swallowed
several of them.

He collapsed and fell unconscious around 3:30 a.m. and was taken to
St. Michael's Hospital, where he died at 12:30 p.m.

Police would not speculate on whether the pills were the popular rave
drug ecstasy.

An 18-year-old woman who was at the club said she felt frightened as
she watched paramedics work on the boy.

``He was so pale white, it was really disturbing,'' said the woman,
who did not want to be identified.

``He was breathing really fast and I heard the paramedic say:'I've
only seen someone breathe that fast when they hyperventilate.' ''

The woman said that, earlier on in the party, she saw security
officers take four pills from someone at the club.

The rave was put on by Big Bud, a popular rave promoting group in
Toronto. One of the Big Bud promoters was shocked when informed
yesterday of the boy's death.

``I've never had problems before,'' said Raymond, who would not give
his last name. ``I can't talk to you now, I have to digest this.''

It is not unusual for children under 18 people to attend raves, said
Toronto police Detective Dan Ross.

``Kids as young as 12 can get in (to raves) as long as there is no
booze there,'' Ross said. Rave supporters said the death shouldn't be
blamed on raves.

``I would caution anyone before they try and paint this as a rave
problem as opposed to a youth problem,'' said Will Chang, 27, of the
Toronto Safe Dance Committee.

People who know the club, formally called Exit, describe it as an
after-hours club that usually opens after midnight on days at the end
of the week.

It is an old warehouse-style brown brick two-storey building on
Mercer St. across from Metro Hall. No one from the club could be
reached for comment.

Ecstasy was blamed for the death of a young woman at a downtown rave
last June. The drug - also known as MDMA - is an amphetamine-based
stimulant and hallucinogen.

Elizabeth ``Beth'' Robertson, 21, died after a night at the Systems
Soundbar, a club on Peter St. in the Yonge and Queen Sts. area.

Just before Robertson's death, a coroner's jury made 27
recommendations aimed at making raves safer.

The jurors, who had been investigating the death in October, 1999, of
Ryerson student Allen Ho, said Toronto needs a safe venue for raves,
along with tough new provincial laws to curb drug use at the
all-night affairs.