LAWYERS SEEK RULES ON RAVES, NOT BAN

Allen Ho Inquest

The Allen Ho inquest wound up yesterday on a surprising note of consensus,
as a variety of lawyers urged the coroner's jury to adopt broadly similar
recommendations.

Most notably, none of the parties argued that raves should be banned, opting
instead for a rave-specific licensing or permitting system. Such a system
must have "teeth," they said, meaning fines or deterrents for promoters and
venue owners who duck the regulation.

Lawyers had different views on whether regulation should happen at the
provincial or municipal levels, but their key disagreement was over how
flexible it should be. A police lawyer said new laws should enable the force
to shut down raves, but others insisted that no group could have that much
discretion.

Louis Sokolov, counsel for the Toronto Dance Safety Committee, which
represents the local rave scene, said that if regulation isn't fair and
affordable, it will have the same effect as a ban, driving the events
underground.

He also noted that a current Liberal bill on raves before the Ontario
Legislature hadn't had any input from the rave community, so a provincial
task force, including members of the community, should be set up to advise
the government.

Allen Ho collapsed at an all-night party in an underground parking garage
last October 10. It is not possible to know how many Ecstasy pills he took.
Of 13 Ecstasy-related deaths in Ontario since 1998, only three have had any
connection with raves and only one, Mr. Ho's, has involved a so-called
underground rave.

Any recommendations his jury makes are non-binding and cannot lay blame.

Many lawyers also urged the jury yesterday to recommend that the federal
government reinstate and sufficiently fund a national drug strategy. They
said, as well, that a rave-permit system should forbid the depiction of
drugs in advertising and promotional materials.

One divisive issue was the suspension of raves on city-owned property. Rave
advocates said the suspension should be lifted immediately because the
venues are the some of the safest in the city, while a lawyer for the city
of Toronto said the suspension was legitimate and asked the jury not to
"short-circuit" the city's political process.

Among the variety of other proposed recommendations, coroner's counsel Paul
McDermott pushed for more specific controls on drug use at raves. He said
organizers should promote their events as "drug-free" and that anyone found
in possession of an illicit drug during a search must be refused entrance
and possibly arrested.

The jury is expected to present its recommendations next Wednesday
afternoon.

He also said Health Canada should fund research on the toxic effects of
designer drugs such as GHB, Ketamine, and Ecstasy, and that certain chemical
compounds used to make illicit drugs should be outlawed.

Among recommendations focusing on harm reduction, Mr. Sokolov said there
should be a 50-cent surtax on admission to raves, to be directed towards
drug-education projects. David Collins of the Toronto Harm Reduction Task
Force advocated adequate funding of the Toronto Raver Info Project(TRIP), so
that it can attend all the city's raves, and funding for a video and website
to realistically portray Ecstasy and other club drugs.

The jury is expected to present its recommendations next Wednesday
afternoon.