RAVES HISTORY, LASTMAN SAYS

Mayor wants council to end city-sanctioned parties

The party's over for kids who attend raves at Exhibition Place. Mayor
Mel Lastman said yesterday that he will call on Toronto council next
week to pull the plug on city-sanctioned raves.

"What it turns out to be is a place for drug pushers," Lastman said.
"That's where they get known. That's where they sell their drugs."

City councillors voted in December to set safety standards for raves,
insisting they would rather see kids enjoying sanctioned parties than
dying at underground events.

"I, too, thought if you have them under a controlled atmosphere ...
you can control these things. You can't," Lastman said

Police made 47 arrests at two raves held on the city-owned Exhibition
Place grounds: The first on March 25 attracted 13,000 young people;
the second on April 22 drew 8,000. Police laid 95 drug-related charges
and seized Ecstasy, Special K, cocaine, crack, hash and marijuana at
the two events.

Police Chief Julian Fantino has asked city councillors to cancel a
third rave planned for Halloween.

Councillor Joe Pantalone, chairman of the board of governors at
Exhibition Place, said that simply pulling the plug on raves is not
going to solve the problem.

However, he added he would support putting an end to raves as long as
city officials explore other options for entertaining young people in
a drug-free environment.

Pantalone said politicians must consider whether young people will go
to illegal events where they'll be in danger if raves, which meet
city-imposed safety standards, are banned.

Meanwhile, a "rave" bill will give municipalities and police greater
control over the popular parties which led to nine Ecstasy-related
deaths last year and four this year in Ontario.

Liberal MPP Sandra Pupatello, who introduced the private member's bill
yesterday, said she was offered the illegal drug Ecstasy on a
fact-finding trip to a Windsor-area rave.

"I did find many, many ... very young people out in the middle of the
night and most of them stoned," Pupatello said. "It took about 20
minutes from my arrival to be offered the Ecstasy for $35."

Her bill would make it illegal to hold a rave without a municipal
permit and allow police to visit the all-night parties. Fines would
range up to $50,000 or a six-month jail term for a person or
corporation illegally holding a rave, and includes fines of up to
$5,000 for partyers who refuse to leave when told so by the police.