RAVESAFE ACCUSED WAS ON CITY COMMITTEE

A man charged with drug offences at a weekend rave was set to help the city
draft regulations for the all-night parties.

RaveSafe Edmonton president Nigel Lawrence Fish, 20, was arrested in the
parking lot outside Sunday's rave at the Edmonton Sportex.

Fish has attended two public meetings at City Hall and was expected to be
part of a city committee looking at how to better regulate raves to make
them safer.

The new regulations are expected to be hammered out over the next couple of
months.

RaveSafe describes itself as "a collective committed to informed, unbiased
drug education for the purpose of reducing the harm caused by drug use."

Fish and fellow RaveSafe member Thomas Noah Carchrae, 26, are charged with
possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a narcotic and
possession of the proceeds of crime.

Police seized about three grams of marijuana, 12 tablets of ecstasy, 41
unidentified capsules and a quantity of cash after searching a group of
people inside a parked car.

Ward 4 city councillor Michael Phair said he hopes the allegations are wrong.

"I certainly hope the charges aren't correct and that maybe there's a
mistake in some way," said Phair. "But certainly if there is some concern,
we will have to look at other people as part of ... the committee.

Ward 6 councillor Dave Thiele said the charges against Fish won't stop what
the city is trying to do with raves and he cautioned against assuming the
RaveSafe activist is guilty.

"Maybe those were some of the drugs he had confiscated earlier that were
(allegedly) in his possession," said Thiele.

Rave promoter Gary Dewhurst of HB Promotions said the arrests will hurt
RaveSafe's reputation but not the work of the city committee.

"I think it's a shame that a couple of people spoiled it for everyone,"
said Dewhurst.

A Toronto DJ slated to play the event, Michael Babb, 25, was charged with
possession of a narcotic after one tablet of ecstasy was found during a
pre-admission search. Another 15 people were charged with drug and criminal
offences at the all-night event attended by about 3,000 people.