RAVERS SAY PILLS ARE 'JUST TOO GOOD'

Ruth, 27, Fashion Designer

Ruth had a conservative Catholic upbringing. But, always curious and
extroverted, she began smoking marijuana at 16 after meeting her first
boyfriend, a surfer. Ten years later, she went to the United States, and
picked up a waitressing job in a trendy Manhattan restaurant. She didn't
get paid but she kept all her tips. On a weekend she would make $200 a night.

The other staff were all a long way from their homes and families, and had
found friendship with each other. They were big rave goers. They invited
Ruth along and her experiences with ecstasy, cocaine, speed and smoking and
tasting heroin began.

The group lived in a studio apartment and carried pagers purely for their
social lives. They became nocturnal creatures. Ruth's favorite film was
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. and she watched it under the influence of a
cocktail of drugs.

Ruth met a man called Bill, who did the visual merchandising for the famous
department store Saks - and sold ecstasy in the clubs for extra money. He
was caught. He still hasn't gone to trial. Police watched him for months
before they nabbed him. His mate and business partner had no drugs on him
at the time and wasn't charged. Ruth decided it was time to come home.

Back in Melbourne, with her experiences fresh in her mind, she tried to
talk her old friends into going to Melbourne raves with her. Most said no.
They had a Monday-to-Friday mindset and enjoyed quiet weekends.

She moved houses and met new flatmates with a similar appetite for
recreational drugs. Now, every fortnight or so she goes to rave parties of
the sort that aren't advertised, but publicised by word of mouth to keep
the police away.

Helen, 27, Student

Helen used to binge drink on the weekends and suffer blinding hangovers.
She is small, but her alcohol intake didn't reflect her size. She moved
from country Victoria to Melbourne and through friends she met at her
part-time job she was introduced to ecstasy.

Never really a big dancer, she didn't get into the music of the rave scene.
Instead, her ecstasy experimentation was mostly at parties at friends'
houses. Instead of blowing $100 on a night out on alcohol (she only ever
drank spirits) she would buy an ecstasy "tab" for between $30 and $50 and
have eight or so hours of feeling high, with no hangover the next day.

Helen's recreational ecstasy use moved on to experimentation with cocaine
and speed. Heroin was seen as a taboo. Cocaine would only be used on really
big occasions, such as interstate trips for New Year's Eve. One time, eight
friends hired a house for a week. Each of them was required to bring their
share of the drugs for celebrations.

Helen believes that drugs like ecstasy are less harmful to her body and
cheaper than top-shelf alcohol.

Andrew, 27, Landscape Designer

Andrew fell in love with a girl at work who was in love with someone else.
His best friend from school tried to pick up his spirits by taking him to a
rave. Andrew loved it.

He hardly fits the stereotype. He doesn't dress in the streetwear style, or
even like the techno music, but he was determined to fit in. So he bought
new clothes and a heap of records without lyrics.

He turned away from pubs and focused on raves. Every weekend he would spend
all day in bed. At night he would be with his mates at a rave.

This went on for a few months. Then, the girl at work who had been in love
with someone else decided she was really in love with Andrew.

They started going out. Because raves are not her scene, he hasn't been to
one since, and he doesn't even play techno music at home.

Paul, 25, Builder

When Paul went to London he heard good reports about the rave scene there.
He was a builder who went to the gym to keep fit, and had gone to London
for a year's working holiday after a ski season in Canada.

About a dozen of his friends from home were also living and working in
London at the time. None of them had ever tried drugs before, but curiosity
and the thrill of being away from home inspired them to go to one of
London's biggest nightclubs.

Most of them bought and took half a tab of ecstasy at the club. They stayed
until 6am, dancing and drinking water.

The next day, Pete said, he was adamant that he would never try ecstasy again.

"It was just too good," he said.