REAL LIFE SNEAKS INTO LEGISLATURE

TORONTO - The dawn of a new millennium is time to celebrate.

But celebrations also present risks and not just on New Year's Eve.

This sad but ever-present reality was outlined to lawmakers by Liberal MPP
Sandra Pupatello.

During a debate on time allocation, which means a government move to
fast-track legislation, Pupatello decided to enlighten MPPs about the
dangers of rave parties and the drugs that go with them. She called on the
politicians to get informed about the problem and then get involved in
solving it.

It was a breath of fresh air from otherwise routine debate about what has
become a routine measure to ram laws through the building without fair and
comprehensive public debate.

Pupatello didn't waste her time condemning the Conservatives for the
obvious: they don't give a hoot about public hearings or the time it takes
to gather input about the weaknesses of their legislation.

Instead, she talked about the challenges facing parents and the need to
combat a new and dangerous trend: raves and drugs. Ecstasy has become the
drug of choice for teenaged ravers, who argue their parties are safe
because the venues don't sell liquor.

The absence of booze has created the opportunity for drug sales. And, at
$30 a pop, ecstasy is a bargain that keeps the dancers hopping all night
long. Thirty bucks worth of beer wouldn't last until 8 p.m. where I come from.

But the innkeepers have a better angle. They don't need a liquor licence,
which means they don't have to greet government inspectors, which means
they don't need a kitchen, which means they don't need a big payroll. They
capitalize on stoned teenagers who teeter on organ-numbing dehydration.

"The answer is a $3 bottle of water," Pupatello told her fellow MPPs.
"Plus, the kids are paying $10 to get in."

This is a racket, pure and simple. Sure, the establishment isn't selling
illegal drugs, but it's benefitting just the same.

Ontario deputy chief coroner James Cairns said the real sharks are set up
in England. The rave club owners there shut off the water in the toilets,
urinals and sinks to ensure their patrons shell out for high-priced bottled
water. This practise has led to a number of deaths in the U.K., he said.

For those who are strong enough to "handle" their ecstasy, the side effects
usually kick in on Monday or Tuesday. "The guidance counsellors in our high
schools are alarmed," Pupatello said. "Guidance counsellors and
vice-principals are finding them throwing up in the bathrooms at school,
passing out from fatigue, totally dehydrated, and they end up in a hospital
for that 24-hour or 48-hour assessment. Then, we get into the whole issue
of drug treatment."

These are obviously the lucky ones. According to Cairns, eight Ontario
deaths have been tied to ecstasy this year. There were at least two other
instances where the pills were used in cases of date rape. The nasty part
of this is that the women wouldn't even know they had ingested it. The drug
had to be identified through a blood test at the Centre of Forensic Sciences.

Furthermore, ecstasy causes amnesia. So, the victim wouldn't even be sure
what happened while she was stoned.

"There are many, many reports of young women getting into very serious
trouble," Pupatello said. "Young women have been raped. Young women have died."

The date rapists don't even have to buy ecstasy because the recipes are
available on the Internet. A few simple search terms brings up a dozen
different sites that offer useful advice on homespun hits of acid.

But not everyone is a qualified chemist, which means the drugs aren't pure.
Police have found pills that have been laced with rat poison, for example.
This makes getting drunk look like a walk in the park.

But, the teenagers keep buying ecstasy, anyway. And the teenagers keep
dancing. And the teenagers keep getting dehydrated and disoriented.

And so, the key to Pupatello's argument was to educate parents who are
interested in the well-being of their children. She pleaded with them to
open their eyes, to stop dropping their kids off at so-called
"alcohol-free" parties in nondescript warehouses and downtown halls.

"I wanted to tell parents that as you sit down over the holidays and take
stock of family matters, look for clues. You should be looking for physical
changes in your kid like weight loss, red eyes, having trouble talking or
walking, having difficulty sleeping, changes in mood. Your teen may be less
involved at home, cranky, more difficult to get along with, moody,
secretive or unco-operative, withdrawn or depressed."

You should also bee looking for tools of the trade.

"You should be looking for thing in your house that have been hidden, like
cigarette papers for rolling joints, roach clips for smoking pot, hash
pipes, glass water pipes, syringes for injecting drugs, small scales they
might use to weigh drugs, pills, powder or any other substance that you
can't identify," she said.

This is a pretty grim message as people enter the Year 2000, but a relevant
one nevertheless. It shows that reality can, at times, permeate the thick
stone walls of Queen's Park. Pupatello showed that politicians can try to
make a difference by ignoring the message tracks that are manufactured by
their parties and address the issues that matter to their constituents.

Unfortunately, some walls are thicker than others, as proved by
Conservative MPP Doug Galt. The minute Pupatello was finished delivering
her riveting speech, Galt stood up and started talking about economic
growth. He obviously thinks gross domestic product is more important that
parenthood.