IF DRUGS ARE TO BE ILLEGAL, THEN LAWS MUST BE ENFORCED

FIRST AND foremost, I would like to state that this article is not intended
to create a dialogue regarding the morality of drug use. It is written
primarily to discuss the issue of illegality and lack of legal enforcement
regarding the emerging drug scene in Halifax. I have been meaning to write
this for quite some time; however, it was the death of Edward James (Jamie)
Britten that has prompted me to finally complete it.

I am a male in my early 20s who has seen the soft-drug trade go from a
fringe activity to a mainstream pastime in less than six years. Over the
last four years, I would estimate that the number of friends and
acquaintances who currently use soft drugs has grown from roughly 25 to 30
per cent to close to 60 to 70 per cent. Although this number may seem high
to you, I strongly believe that I may have downgraded my estimate. Often at
parties or events lately, I am definitely in the minority. In addition,
contrary to popular belief, most of these people have never been involved in
crime and are educated university students.

However, my anger has nothing to do with the 20 to 25 age bracket. In my
opinion, people of that age are able to make their own decisions and accept
all of the consequences that are associated with them. Rather, it is this
new 15 to 18 age bracket that has become prematurely exposed because of the
"rave" scene. I will start off by saying that I have been attending raves
since 1995 and had attended close to 10 before becoming so disgusted with
the following issue that I gave up my love for the music and swore off them.

When the rave scene first began to pick up, it involved the 19 to 30 age
bracket and was, for the most part, close to drug-free. We went to enjoy
music we could not get from the mainstream media and we went to dance. If
you had asked me about raves back then, I would have told you it was one of
the best experiences of my life. It was a place where skin colour, social
class and various other differences were put aside because we were all
united in our enjoyment of music and physical dance. In fact, the scene was
so good that it received media hyping everywhere as a wholesome environment
that everyone was welcome to attend; and it was.

As people began to trust the rave scene more and more, parents consented to
letting their children attend the all-night "party." As a result, the
average age dropped to close to 18. Also around the last two years, the drug
scene at the events increased to such a point that drugs and raving became
synonymous. At the end of my raving period, it was not unusual to see entire
groups of teenagers from age 15 and up exhibiting ecstasy behaviour or
symptoms (mostly constant touching of each other and dilated eyes). This is
not even taking into account the people dropping acid or using speed.

According to Charife, an organizer of the recent rave at Exhibition Park for
Power Source International, security people tried to keep drugs out of the
rave. I was not in attendance at this particular one, but at the last rave I
attended, which was hosted by the Goodvibe collective at Exhibition Park and
featured Palladin and SOS, you could see clouds of marijuana smoke. In
addition, I was not patted down upon entering the rave (my water bottle was
confiscated, though); and I was propositioned twice within the rave itself
by strangers. This was NOT a single occurrence; at this point, it had become
quite common.

Another scary fact is that these street drugs come from a variety of
sources; acid and "E" cause bad enough symptoms without having to worry
about a bad cut or "filler" (impurities dropped in to make space). Drugs are
not standardized and, when made by amateurs, can result in varying doses. I
currently have two friends who took a drug that was dosed improperly; one is
now a schizophrenic and the other suffers from paranoia.

Anyway, my whole argument is not about the drug scene itself; it's about the
fact that I have not seen police officers at more than one rave (and on this
occasion, they were outside) and this bothers me.

Everyone seems shocked that drugs may have been involved in the death at the
rave and now the police say that it is a serious issue. The rave scene is
not new. Why has it been allowed to progress so far? I have not read about
one rave arrest ever, despite the fact that I firmly believe this is one of
the largest concentrations of drug use in Halifax. I have the same problem
with Cannabis Day, an event I know people were dealing at. You can argue for
days regarding why soft drugs should be legal, but the point is that they're
currently not, so why aren't the police enforcing the law?

I, as a taxpayer, feel that if more money is required, then say so. I would
not object to seeing more money being allocated if it means stopping future
drug addiction from taking hold.

Corey Skinner lives in Halifax.