CAN'T LEGISLATE COMMON SENSE

It is both sad and true, but none of the recommendations by an inquest
jury yesterday would have saved Allen Ho.

Ho didn't die because he was at an underground rave, which happened to
be held in a garage. Or even because there might not have been as much
water as needed on hand. Despite the valiant efforts by medical staff,
the 20-year-old Ryerson business student died because he took an
illegal drug.

"(The recommendations) won't save the life of a person who is
determined to take a drug that they know nothing about," said Crown
attorney Paul McDermott afterwards, adding that's why the public
education component of the jury's proposals is so important.

But you can't legislate common sense, you can only hope that when your
kids go out the door on a Saturday night that they will exercise it.

In the aftermath of the jury's 19 recommendations, the kids from the
rave culture hammed it up for the TV cameras. In fairness to them, Sun
reporter Michael Clement says they did so at the behest of the
journalists who needed videotape to illustrate the story.

That said, however, there was an air of victory which left both
McDermott and Det. Glen Emond with a distinctly bad taste in their
mouths.

That was intensified for the Crown by Olivia Chow's rush to score
political points, who immediately held a presser saying she would take
it back to city council.

"I think they could have been a lot more dignified to the family,"
said McDermott.

For his part, Emond was distressed by the demeanour of the ravers
throughout the course of the inquest.

And to him, the way they carried on outside Coroner's Court was
emblematic of behaviour which he found increasingly "disgusting" as
the inquest progressed.

"I felt it was quite cold. There was very little mention of his name
throughout the entire process."

The criticisms simply outraged the youthful (she won't give her age)
Kim Stanford, who is a spokesman for the Toronto Dance Safety Committee.

"I would say that's ridiculous. The rave community went into mourning
when Allen Ho died," she said. "That's why we were at the inquest."
(Even so, how is it that not one single person who attended the party
where Ho lost his life came forward to aid in the inquest despite
repeated pleas by investigators?)

As well, Stanford said they have no plans to change the harm reduction
pamphlets which are used as part of a drug education program
surrounding raves. In it, Ecstasy (which is what Allen Ho ingested
before he died) is referred to as a "multi-faceted jewel."

That choice of language is deliberate, says Stanford, and "we'll
continue to design our flyers with our target audience in mind."

When pushed on the point, she repeated the line several times and then
finally said that harm reduction has to take into account that not all
experiences with drugs are negative. "Drug users also have positive
experiences," she said with a hint of impatience. (Gee, and I always
thought that people hated taking drugs. That's why they did it.)

Stanford was clearly irritated by the question and it's an edginess
which was also reflected in bombardment of e-mails which land in my
computer any time I've written about raves. The general consensus is
that anyone who speaks out against them is both ignorant and
ill-informed. (And for those of you who have written already, no need
to do it again, your views remain on the record.)

Ecstasy seems to be embedded in the rave culture and there doesn't
seem to be any practicable way to stop it. It's easy to manufacture
and the actual pills are so small, it's hard to imagine how thorough a
search would have to be in order to turn up a small amount of drugs in
someone's possession. Besides, no measures will prevent a person from
taking it before heading off to party.

Asked if she felt the jury's recommendation to hold raves on city
property was a victory, the well-spoken Stanford replied: "Absolutely.
We're delighted the jury came out with very solid, positive
recommendations that I think are going to prevent other tragic
overdose deaths."

Delighted is a funny word to use when someone is dead. Intentional or
not, there was an air of triumph amongst the ravers yesterday.

And why not? It does, after all, count as a tick in the win column.
And as for the family of Allen Ho? Well, my guess is that they're
still counting it as a loss.