RAVE SCENE CAN SELF-REGULATE

The rave-crackdown summit announced by Consumer Affairs Minister Bob
Runciman is a case of deja vu for this 1950s rock 'n' roll fan (It's
no party: Crackdown looms on all-night raves, Nov. 4).

In the mid-'50s, rock moved from underground clubs to big venue
arenas. City fathers in big U.S. cities cried moral decay and did
everything in their power to bring down the radio deejays who powered
and sponsored the events.

In Toronto, then a rock backwater, WKBW's George (The Hound) Lorenze
moved rock out of the old Mutual St. arena and into Maple Leaf Gardens.

Raves are now at the same point in their development, only this time
Toronto is one of the leading rave centres in North America.

Raves crept into Toronto in the late 1980s and during the past five
years, with the development of responsible management, have moved from
backstreet warehouses to big-time centres, such as the CNE's
Automotive Centre and Better Living Building.

This Tory government has incessantly applauded entrepreneurship,
particularly by the young in our province. In Toronto, the young
entrepreneurs from Lifeforce and Dose have put the city at the
forefront of the world rave scene. They have done it with the
co-operation of the city police, health authorities and, as the above
venues testify, the assistance of the city.

Yet now they are branded "illicit dances" and "notorious parties" and
must be stamped out by the morally superior forces at Queen's Park and
panicky city councillors.

Drugs and alcohol go down at every club and bar, the Molson Centre and
the SkyDome. And, from time to time, people die either directly or
indirectly for their attendance in such crowds. Crying foul about
raves is hypocrisy in the extreme.

A hallmark of this government has been to let business regulate
itself. The rave scene in Toronto has responsible companies that can
do that. They should be invited to participate in the summit so
politicians can learn what is involved, before they go off half-cocked
and destroy what is developing into a major revenue-producing product
for the city.

I don't know if this is a back-door way for big corporate interests to
horn in on what is obviously big-time money. If it isn't, Runciman
will only succeed in driving the dance scene back underground, with
all its attendant dangers.

John Borst