ALL THE RAVE

When members of the Florida Legislature first became alarmed about the
state's growing rave culture, Gainesville was still on the periphery
of the burgeoning drug-tinged, up-all-night phenomenon.

Now, two years after the adoption of a state law intended to limit the
late-night,. dance parties, that seems to have changed.

"We are becoming the rave capital of Florida," says Gainesville City
Commissioner Pegeen Hanrahan. "At least that's the impression we are
being presented with."

Gainesville's elevated status in the state's rave culture hierarchy is
an apparent outgrowth of the city's decision two years ago to opt out
of the, state anti-rave law at a time when other communities were
either embracing it or adopting even tougher local ordinances.

The 1997 state law - modeled after an ordinance adopted by the city of
Tampa, one of the state's early rave culture centers - forbids
establishments with liquor licenses from operating during hours when
the sale of liquor is prohibited. Though raves in the late 1980s and
early 1990s started out in warehouses and other secluded places, by
1997 in Florida, they largely had moved uptown, migrating to bars and
clubs with liquor licenses, which typically close before rave dances
really get going.

In 1997, Gainesville Police officials citing the increasing appearance
of illegal drug use and sales in after-hours rave clubs across Florida
- - pleaded with commissioners to allow the state law to go into effect
in Gainesville. But commissioners declined to do so after a public
meeting in which most speakers opposed forcing bars and clubs to close
at 2 a.m., the hour after which alcohol sales are no longer allowed.
Downtown businesses continue to remain open without alcohol sales as
long after 2 a.m. as they choose.

Closing time remains a sticking point for some city
leaders.

"I don't want to write regulations that begin to infringe upon the
rights of people to run businesses downtown, and I don't think any of
us do," says Gainesville Mayor Paula DeLaney.

But, as Gainesville has retained the hands-off approach, other
communities have adopted laws increasingly inhospitable for raves,
helping Gainesville in its rise as a rave location of choice. Simon's,
a club owned by Simon Semrani, draws ravers from across the state.
Raves also are occasionally held at The Florida Theatre and at
Semrani's Soulhouse and The Loft.

But Simon's particularly has rankled police, who have made numerous
drug related arrests there.

Efforts to interview Semrani were unsuccessful.

"Historically, Simon's advertises statewide and attracts huge
crowds to its larger events, which feature renowned disc jockeys
playing on multiple levels at this club," wrote Gainesville Police
Department Lt. Ed Book of GPD's Special Investigations Division in an
October 1998 internal report. "The area in and around Simon's
frequently constitutes an open-air d r u g market."

The report came shortly after an undercover operation resulting in 11
arrests, and the seizure of drugs and paraphernalia, including
ecstacy, ketamine , LSD, marijuana and nitrous oxide contained in whippets.

GPD officers in May launched another undercover operation during a
huge Gainesville rave advertised statewide with admission tickets sold
at TicketMaster outlets across Florida and attracting more than 2,000.

That operation resulted in 13 arrests, including arrests of
participants from Hialeah, Jacksonville, New Port Richey and Tellice
Plains, Tenn., and the confiscation of more than 2,000 doses of LSD.

"As a whole, the Gainesville Police Department has conducted a
tremendous amount of enforcement to events associated with Simon's for
the preceding several years," wrote Book in another report written
shortly after that operation. "Meanwhile, most Saturday nights for
years have been met with drug overdoses both in and around the club."

"Just a few years ago," Book concluded, "City Commissioners exempted
themselves Via vote from the State 'rave' law. This law would have
dealt with this problem."

Now commissioners are re-examining their earlier decision to opt out
of the state anti-rave law and have scheduled a public hearing for 6
p.m. Monday to consider an ordinance that would allow the state law to
become effective in Gainesville.

The ordinance will be taken up Monday "for first reading," but, City
Attorney Marion Radson said, that doesn't mean the commission will
adopt the ordinance.

"It requires the commission to hold a public hearing on the matter,
but they can vote it up or down or strike it from the agenda or
continue it," Radson said.

In fact, commissioners don't seem inclined to adopt the
ordinance.

"It kind of gives us the option to do whatever we need to do," DeLaney
said. "We do have lots of choices at this point."

Among the arguments commissioners are likely to hear Monday as they
consider the state law's mandatory closing times:

(1) Downtown businesses might be hurt, particularly this fall, when
almost all of the University of Florida's football home football games
are at night, bringing many patrons downtown at later than usual hours.

(2) Public safety might be jeopardized by forcing patrons out of
businesses at the same time alcohol service ends, putting those who
have drank too much on the street before they have had time to sober
up.

(3) Ravers themselves might be hurt if raves relocate to secluded
venues unknown to police and medical personnel.

Rave-related Internet postings are calling ravers to take their
arguments to commissioners in person.

"The GPD isn't going to stop until their ordinance is passed and we
can't party," wrote a raver identified as Amy on the E-Nation bulletin
board. "We must show up at the next few gatherings of theirs and
protest this new bill!"

Wrote a raver identified as Dave: "Nobody is going to side with us
on this, therefore we must take it upon ourselves to stand up for our
culture before it gets run down and put into the history books."

And a raver identified as Chrissy wrote: "I am so tired of people
telling me how to run my life. If I want to go to a club and dance
until 4, 5 or 6 in the morning I can, you know why? Because I am an
adult!!!!! ... Hey old people, the people that go to these parties are
adults, - get out of our lives and start to worry about the real
problems of the world."

Tampa City Councilman Bob Buckhorn - who led Tampa's anti-rave fight
and testified before the Legislature two years ago arguing for the
statewide law - has heard such arguments before, and cautions
Gainesville commissioners not to be swayed by them.

"Sometimes the kids think we are persecuting their music or their
style of dress," he said. "We are not. I think the music will be
around for a while."

"The rave culture started out being about peace, love and harmony, but
it has become nothing more than a drug bazaar clear and simple," he
said. "The drugs that turn up at raves are unlike the youthful
indiscretions of 10 or 20 years ago. Kids are dying because of them."
A couple of drug-related deaths in Tampa and Orlando prompted the push
for legislation.

"There is no downside to this, as far as I know, particularly in a
college town, other than putting out of business some rave club
operation profiting from kids dying," Buckhorn said.

Commissioners, in fact, should go beyond the state law and enact even
tougher regulations, as Tampa and other cities have done, he said.

"What we found, and what I think the Gainesville commission will find,
is that unless you deal with clubs that do not deal with alcohol
you're leaving a loophole big enough to drive a truck through," he
said.

Tampa now requires clubs with or without liquor licenses to close
their doors by 3 a.m. St. Peters-burg this month expanded its
ordinance to include nonalcohol clubs. Orlando also has included the
nonalcohol clubs under its ordinance.

Several downtown liquor-license holders Monday will pro-pose a
six-month trial of a 4 a.m. closing time for all downtown nightspots,
whether or not they hold liquor licenses.

That compromise, said Florida Theatre general manager Kevin Gunter,
would allow downtown businesses to remain open to serve late-night
customers while at the same time eliminating some of the problems
associated with raves.

"The police are concerned about people coming here from Miami and
Orlando and Tampa and the drug sales and use associated with that,"
Gunter said. "This would probably cut down that [transient] crowd by
at least half."

Whether. such proposals will appeal to commissioners remains to be
seen.

But at least one commissioner said he might he receptive.

"This is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping we would have by
indicating we are willing to take action on this issue," said
Commissioner Bruce Delaney. "It appears that people who have an
interest in the downtown entertainment scene are willing to come talk
to us and make constructive suggestions."

"This is a real problem and we need to address it in a real way,"
Delaney said. "I'm not interested in a feel good solution to the rave
problem."