RAVE RULES URGED AS INQUEST WRAPS UP

Lawyer Calls For Legislation To Prevent Ecstasy-Related Deaths

New legislation to regulate raves topped a list of recommendations lawyers
urged jurors to adopt at an inquest into the ecstasy-related death of Allen Ho.

"This inquest was not called to be a referendum on raves," coroner's
counsel Paul McDermott reminded the two-man, three-woman jury yesterday
before it was dismissed to consider recommendations, after listening to 38
witnesses over the last three weeks.

But McDermott said evidence has shown that "drugs are a problem at raves."

Ho, a third-year Ryerson student, died Oct. 10 after taking ecstasy at a
Toronto rave held in an underground parking garage at 501 Alliance Ave.,
attended by about 3,500 young people.

Ho was one of three people in Ontario who died after taking ecstasy at
raves last year, the inquest has heard. Since 1998, 13 people have died of
ecstasy-related complications.

Legislation is needed to ensure safety at raves, using Raves Act, 2000, as
a framework, McDermott said. The Act is a private members' bill drafted by
deputy Liberal leader Sandra Pupatello that has passed second reading in
the Ontario legislature.

Such legislation would ensure that raves are licensed; follow building and
fire safety codes; and have on-site paramedics and law enforcement. There
would also be provisions to close raves if laws are broken.

"This legislation should be established as soon as possible," said Rusty
Beauchesne, lawyer for Toronto police chief Julian Fantino and the Toronto
Police Service.

Beauchesne recommended that penalties "with a substantial deterrent" be
imposed on property owners or rave promoters who fail to comply with the
legislation.

Judges also need to get tough with drug dealers who would exploit the young
and vulnerable "often at the profit of organized crime," Beauchesne urged,
adding that federal or provincial funding should be made available to
police agencies to train officers as drug recognition experts.

Louis Sokolov, a lawyer for the Toronto Dance Safety Committee, suggested
raves should be restricted to those 16 and up. He also said licensing
should follow a protocol set up by the committee that includes: a cap on
ticket sales; access to free running water; adequate ventilation; and a
guideline that determines the number of paid duty officers required.

McDermott also recommended:

* Drug risks be taught in schools through public health departments.

* Health Canada allocate research funds to study toxic effects of designer
drugs.

* Data on drug use be centralized making illicit drug use, as diagnosed by
physicians, a reportable disease.

Sokolov also urged the jury to recommend lifting the ban on holding raves
on city-owned property. But Robert Baldwin, a lawyer for the city of
Toronto, said that drug consumption at raves could make it a legal problem
for the city's taxpayers to condone the use of city venues.