DRUG CRACKDOWN RIGHT STEP

Mar. 15, 2001 - There's no question that the "club drug" called
Ecstasy has firmly established itself on the underside of the metro
area's night life with deadly results.

With the Ecstasy-related death last month of Brittney Chambers of
Louisville on her 16th birthday and the apparent drug-linked death of
teenager Jared Snyder last weekend still fresh in everybody's mind,
Denver announced Tuesday a drug crackdown at "teen night" and rave
dance clubs.

Mayor Wellington Webb and Police Chief Gerry Whitman said the teen
night license of The Church, 1160 Lincoln St., a popular downtown
venue, has been revoked, and those of two others, the Aztlan Theatre,
974 Santa Fe Drive, and the Ogden Theater, 935 E. Colfax Ave., are
under review.

Undercover officers arrested a suspect Feb. 22 for allegedly selling
drugs at The Church and also reported purchasing drugs at a rave at
the National Western Events Center. Snyder, who was naked when struck
by a hit-and-run driver on Interstate 70 early Sunday, may have been
on drugs. He is believed to have attended a rave at the National
Western complex on Saturday.

Mayoral press secretary Andrew Hudson says the busts aren't
"anti-rave or anti-party. This is police officers enforcing the drug
laws."

Any rave venue that gets a reputation for drugs will be targeted for
the stings, he says, though the city must strike a "fine balance" to
avoid driving the dance parties underground.

Undercover cops have ferreted out drugs that weren't detected by
off-duty cops and hired guards working security at the venues, Hudson
says.

He says some clubs know their clientele have been using Ecstasy,
which causes dehydration and makes users extremely thirsty. (Brittney
Chambers, who took Ecstasy at a birthday party at her home, died from
drinking huge amounts of water.) "They're selling bottled water for
$6 or $7; they have "cooling-down rooms' because the people on
Ecstasy are overheating," said Hudson.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA; ketamine, a veterinary drug;
methamphetamine and LSD are among the so called "club drugs" that
have exploded on the scene recently.

Dave DeForest-Stalls, who runs The Spot, a center for teens and older
adolescents, warns: "It's very short-sighted to shut down the venues.
That will not help the problem at all. That will make the problem
worse."

Kids forced out of structured venues with supervision will go to
"isolated farm pastures and abandoned warehouses" to stage raves. And
that would be more dangerous, DeForest-Stalls said. "The question is:
Do we want their socialization to happen in a more safe and more
monitored place?" DeForest-Stalls says if authorities target teen
clubs, they should do the same with LoDo establishments where adults
use Ecstasy. However, he says, venues should be held accountable for
condoning illegal substance use by teens.

We agree. Routinely shutting down dance spots will only push the
raves farther underground, with potentially disastrous results. But
the city should shut down places that turn a blind eye to drug sales
to kids.