RAVE ON

Re: They're Not Going There Just to Get High, Sept. 2.

I have just read the article by Mitchel Raphael concerning raves in your
online edition. He made the point that its better to have these events in
licenced clubs where there is running water and the emergency services can
get to them should something go wrong. He went on to say that if they are
banned they will simply be driven underground and therefore become very much
more dangerous. How right he is.

Forcing raves underground is indeed the wrong thing to do, but the drug war
demands it. If raves are to be allowed in legal places, then drug use has to
be accepted so that harm reduction measures can be made. In the U.K. right
now, there is no outreach work for recreational users.

This culture isn't going to go away, it's well established. It's a fact, and
because a lot of drugs are used at these events, we can no longer afford the
head-in-the-sand drug war attitude.

Derek Williams,

Norwich, Norfolk, England