PROVINCE WADES INTO RAVE SCENE

Children's Services Minister Iris Evans is being accused of jumping on a
media-fuelled bandwagon by calling meetings in Edmonton and Calgary to
discuss safety at raves, but members of the dance culture say they'll
participate anyway.

With the growing popularity of raves and sensational news coverage of
rave-related drug abuse, rave organizers want to make sure lawmakers are
given an accurate picture of rave culture. The scene, organizers say, has
become a lightning rod for sensational news coverage.

"A guy can get the crap kicked out of him in front of Club Malibu and have
his head curbed, like 20 times, and it doesn't even rate a mention in the
news. But some hawk-eyed reporter hears about something that happens at a
rave and it's going on the front page," said Keith Rubuliak, whose Def Star
Productions stages concerts and raves in Edmonton and Calgary.

"I honestly feel the media has fuelled this. There have been 3,000-person
parties - three years ago - and there wasn't so much as a mention in any
paper. But now, it's the flavor of the month. It gives TV stations eye
candy, it gives newspaper reporters something to write about. They are
fuelling ignorance."

Nick Delgado, who heads up the Nexus Tribe rave production group, agrees.

"In the media's eye, raves are places where kids are more influenced by
peer pressure. They're places where people take drugs," he said.

Mike Peebles, an organizer of RaveSafe, a harm reduction group, calls
ongoing media coverage and political response "the bandwagon to be on."

Yet all three will attend the meetings.

"I'll attend and try to stop the spread of misinformation that is becoming
all too apparent," said Peebles.

Both Rubuliak and Delgado say they are in favor of tough regulations to
make the all-night dance parties as safe as possible. As more and more
people stage raves, Rubuliak said, standards decline.

"It's hard enough to find a venue when you're talking to a 48-year-old man
who only hears about the stabbings and the drugs and the bullshit," said
Rubuliak. "We want to see strict regulations in place."

Delgado agrees. Nexus Tribe raves, he points out, aren't all-ages events.

"We want to tell parents, 'We don't recommend your kids come out to these
raves,'" he said of his over-18 policy.

City councillor Michael Phair thinks it's a good idea to keep younger
people away from older partiers. Months ago Phair asked city administrators
to gather information on all-ages clubs - especially about regulations
governing their proximity to licensed clubs. No such regulations exist. But
Phair thinks that's one area where the city could develop rules to make
raves safer.

"Concerns have been brought up by parents who hadn't realized that, in some
cases, some of these clubs were in the same buildings as some clubs where
there were adults (drinking) in another part of the building. They would
come down and prey upon 13 and 14-year-old girls," said Phair.

"And when you don't serve alcohol, there is practically nothing in place
for regulations, except things like basic fire safety. It's pretty minimal
for regulations."

Phair said the city has the means to take care of the rave issue on its own.