IS THE PARTY OVER?

Not yet. After two drug overdose deaths at raves, scenesters still have
time to put their own house in order -- before the authorities do it for
them

In the past few weeks, the bad news has been piling up for Toronto's rave
scene. On Aug. 7-8, a rave at a Toronto nightclub produced a drug-related
death and a sexual assault charge. And on Aug. 15, searchers found the body
of a young man who disappeared from a party last month at Sauble Beach.
These incidents have left rave enthusiasts wondering how to repair the
damage to their scene before police move in and clean it up for them.

At about 5:40am on Aug. 8, rave security staff at a party at the Warehouse
club space at Queens Quay and Jarvis brought an unconscious 20-year-old man
outside into the parking lot. Metro Ambulance workers who were assigned to
the party tried to revive him, then took him to St. Michael's Hospital,
where he was pronounced dead at 6:03am from a possible overdose of cocaine
and methamphetamine.

The deceased's family has asked police not to release his name.

A couple days later, police arrested one Darlon Neptune, age 26 and between
addresses, on charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement. The
offences were allegedly committed at 132 Queens Quay E. -- the Warehouse and
the neighbouring Guvernment club -- on Aug. 8.

Dr. Trance, head of the Effective promotions company, which sponsored the
Warehouse rave, says he's "not at liberty" to discuss either incident.

Charles Khabouth, owner of the Guvernment and the Warehouse, is more
forthcoming. There were seven uniform cops on duty at the Warehouse rave,
along with a registered nurse and Metro Ambulance staff, he says. "We don't
fool around," says Khabouth. "We took every precaution."

Khabouth, who was present on Aug. 7-8, points out that the Warehouse has
held dozens of raves without any problems. Though shaken by the death, he
describes it as an "isolated incident."

Isolated or not, the Warehouse OD happened within days of the discovery of
Kieran Kelly -- a 21-year-old university student who wandered away from a
Sauble Beach rave July 17 and was found dead on Aug. 15 -- and a decision by
Peel Region's International Centre to stop hosting rave parties.

Everyone, from cops and politicians to rave promoters, stresses that
Toronto's rave scene, which has been active for nearly a decade and is among
the largest in North America, is relatively free of crime or violence.

The Warehouse OD was "the first drug overdose death I've ever heard about
associated with raves in Toronto," says Kim Stanford, co-ordinator of TRIP
(Toronto Raver Info Project). TRIP arranges harm reduction information at
raves and was present at the Warehouse party, but left before the death
occurred.

"We deal with drug overdoses on almost a daily basis," says Toronto Regional
Coroner Dr. William Lucas. "As for ones specifically related to rave
parties, this is the first one I recall in Toronto."

Dr. Lucas is involved in the Warehouse case, but doesn't yet have final
results on exactly what substance (or substances) killed the young man.

The Warehouse and Sauble Beach deaths have triggered wild rumours about a
police crackdown on local raves. At the same time, promoters, ravers and
health officials have been holding meetings to discuss how to deal with
drugs and crime and how to rebuild the scene's impressive safety record.

The question everyone's asking is: can the rave scene regulate itself or do
police and politicians have to impose rules that might mean greater
safety -- but possibly destroy the essence of a youth culture phenomenon?

RUMOURS OF A CLAMPDOWN

A couple days after the Warehouse rave, the Internet message board for
Tribe, a magazine that follows the local scene, exploded with angry posts.
While most were sympathetic to the young ravers who died, there was sharp
criticism of "irresponsible" drug use.

"You don't need four caps of crystal [methamphetamine], two Es, some pot,
etc. to enjoy the evening," wrote "Bean" on Aug. 16. "That's just being
silly."

Rave culture, which originated in the late '80s out of the acid house and
techno dance scenes in the U.K., New York and Ibiza, has always boasted of
maintaining a peaceful ambiance. The prevailing slogan is PLUR (Peace,
Love, Unity and Respect) and ravers are supposed to look out for each other
if they get too wired.

Rave culture's mellow atmosphere is so predominant that the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) felt compelled to remark upon it in a
1997 study on drug use at Toronto raves.

"The vibe encountered is not replicated at other parties or clubs," reads
the study. "Fewer fights occur than in clubs, people apologize on the
dancefloor when they bump into you and women do not have to worry about
being continually approached by men."

Which is why drug deaths and a reported sexual assault are so shocking to
local ravers, some of whom made apocalyptic posts proclaiming the end of
local rave culture on the Tribe message board. Many were convinced the
20-year-old Warehouse raver died from an overdose of GHB (Gamma Hydroxy
Butyrate, also known as liquid Ecstasy), a relatively new drug on the rave
scene that's deadly when taken in large doses or with other chemicals.

A raging rumour held that Mayor Mel Lastman had decided to impose a 3am
curfew on raves (most parties finish up around breakfast time). Another
rumour had it that the city wants to force all raves into nightclubs, away
from warehouse spaces.

Reality is less dramatic. While cops and ravers alike are alarmed about the
use of GHB and other potentially dangerous drugs, no one in authority claims
to be working for the clampdown.

"A crackdown? Not that I'm aware of," says Jim Warren, media officer for Mel
Lastman. The mayor, currently on vacation, "has not discussed a crackdown
with me," he says.

Reps in downtown councillor Olivia Chow's office are equally mystified by
talk of new rules for city raves. "I can't find any base of where that
rumour started," says Bob Gallagher, Chow's executive assistant.

Cops also deny there's an official crackdown. Detective Rick Chase, leader
of a six-man drug squad that works downtown, says he hasn't "chatted with
the mayor about [a crackdown] or heard about anyone talking about it.... As
far as outlawing warehouse parties, that's not going to happen."

If a police crackdown is going on anywhere in the G.T.A., it's in Peel
Region, where cops showed up in force at a May 29 rave at the International
Centre.

In early June, the Centre decided to stop hosting raves. "Rave parties are
a nice source of a certain kind of business," says Jack Epstein, an account
executive for the Centre. "But they were creating scenarios that would put
us into a confrontation basis with Peel Region Police."

GROWING PAINS

Rave culture in Toronto isn't facing a crackdown, but rather an acute case
of growing pains. Put simply, the rave scene's trying to cope with the
inevitable problems caused when tens of thousands of young people spend
their weekends immersed in a culture in which casual drug use is the norm.

"Toronto is acknowledged far and wide for having the best scene in rave
culture in North America," boasts Harris Rosen, publisher of Peace magazine,
which covers the local dance scene.

The megacity now has "a bigger rave and dance scene than New York City and
Chicago," according to Dave B., operations manager for Telepathic
Communications, which designs party flyers, posters and CD covers. American
DJs now flock to work in Toronto, he says. Rave's mass popularity is a
recent development, however.

"In the early '90s, if you cracked 2,000 at a party, you were the man," says
Rosen. "Now, you get 14,000 people at raves; 49 weeks of the year, they're
doing raves. Sometimes two or three raves a night."

The math is clear: more raves means more ravers, which means more drug use
and a greater likelihood of overdoses.

Ravers who participate in the scene -- and the cops who patrol it -- confirm
that substance use and abuse is on the rise.

Dave B., who started going to local raves in 1992, says he sees "a lot more
drugs now -- GHB, crystal meth, Special K (ketamine)." Back in the early
'90s, "drugs would facilitate the party," he says. "Now the party
facilitates the drugs."

All drugs are not equal in rave culture. Cocaine, opiates and alcohol -- at
least in theory -- are frowned upon. Marijuana is everywhere, but the main
rave drug is MDMA, better known as Ecstasy or E. A mild stimulant with some
hallucinogenic properties, E "typically produces loving feelings -- people
are warm and loving and smiling," says Stanford.

In the past two years, police seizures of E have gone through the roof, from
a grand total of one seizure in the first half of 1997 to 48 seizures
between January and June of 1999. (A seizure can mean anything from a
couple tabs to a warehouse load.)

While the jury's still out on Ecstasy's long-term effects, virtually no one
has anything good to say about crystal methamphetamine. Also known as poor
man's cocaine, meth is a dangerous form of speed that was initially
popularized by kamikaze pilots, Nazi tank commanders and biker gangs. Ravers
who use the stuff are called tweakers or skeletons and are generally
regarded as scumbags by older members in the scene.

Seizures of meth are also up in Toronto. Between January and June, 1999,
police made 18 seizures, up from three in the first half of 1997.

In contrast to meth, GHB relaxes people, sometimes to the point of
unconsciousness or coma. Which makes sense, as it was initially developed
as an anesthetic in the 1960s.

GHB was only recently criminalized, so city police have no seizure stats on
the drug. An info sheet from the city of Toronto's Research Group on Drug
Use states that "one or two deaths are anecdotally reported to have been
associated [with GHB] in Toronto but these reports have not been confirmed."

GHB contains "no toxic metabolites, nothing to harm the brain or liver,"
says TRIP's Stanford. That said, the stuff is "very easy to overdose on,
especially if mixed with other drugs or alcohol."

An overdose of GHB, according to the handbook, Drugs and Drug Abuse, can
cause "decreased respiration, seizure-like activity, confusion, delirium and
death."

SAFETY PATROLS

Despite concerns about GHB, TRIP opposes a crackdown on raves, arguing that
regulation would drive the scene further underground, making it more
dangerous.

TRIP promotes self-regulation and held a community forum at the Health
Centre on Aug. 17 where party promoters, enthusiasts and health officials
discussed crime and drugs and "reaffirmed the multi-layered response" to
this summer's tragedies, says Stanford. Suggestions included better
security, tighter door frisks, active discouragement of dealers and giving
party-goers more information about various drugs.

Some observers point out there's a limit to what promoters can do. "Unless
you strip-search everyone, you can't catch everything," says Khabouth.

The police have their own ideas, most of which include stepped-up
enforcement. While there isn't a specific "rave squad," many of the 30
officers who do drug investigations in downtown Toronto regularly check out
rave parties, says Detective Chase. Uniformed officers scout nightclub
raves while plainclothes cops frequent the underground parties that happen
in warehouses and lofts.

"We try to target the suppliers, as opposed to the users," explains Chase.

Others suggest going Dutch -- setting up on-site drug-testing facilities at
raves. Health officials in Holland routinely test ravers' dope at parties,
offering a degree of quality control unavailable on the black market.

"The average Joe user comes up, shows his tablets," explains Stanford. "And
the testers can give enough information to tell users what they're taking."

Drug test kits such as E-Z Test, which checks out the purity of Ecstasy
tablets, are available in Canada (they're distributed by Arrakis Imports in
Vancouver). While Dave B. can't say enough about the E-Z Test he purchased
from a record store on Queen Street, it's unlikely cops and politicians
would OK its mass use at local raves.

TRIP can't even get into many nightclub raves, complains Stanford, much less
do Dutch-style harm reduction techniques. Club owners, she says, are leery
about organizations handing out drug info that might attract the attention
of police.

That position is ironic, when you consider that alcohol is still a far
bigger threat to young people than rave drugs.

"Individuals working in hospitals stated that during weekends, fighting and
hospital admissions were more likely to be linked to excessive alcohol use
in bars, rather than from excessive drug use at raves," reads the CAMH
report on Toronto raves.

Rave promoters believe they get a raw deal from the press, which they accuse
of ignoring positive aspects of rave culture, like the rarity of violence.
The Sauble Beach rave, points out Dr. Trance, was a major cultural event,
featuring thousands of people who set up their own music-based community for
three days, something few papers mentioned in their coverage of Kieran
Kelly's tragic death.

"You can't make raves any more safe than they already are," argues Khabouth,
"unless the government gets involved and teaches kids about drugs and safety
the same way they taught about safe sex in schools."

While still a strong supporter of rave culture, Khabouth says he will stop
hosting rave parties at the Warehouse. Likewise, Dr. Trance has shut down
the Effective promotions company. While he doubts the events of Aug. 8 will
lead to a police crackdown, Dr. Trance fears the press will use the event as
an excuse to bash raves.

"The media focus on the sensational aspects of rave," he complains. This is
unfortunate because "there are some people who are stupid about doing things
that are illegal."

Call Nate Hendley at 504-4339 x: 313.