DRUG BLITZ ON RAVE PARTIES

A NATIONAL police crackdown is planned for rave dance parties rife
with deadly designer drugs.

Undercover and uniformed police will target the public parties popular
with teenagers and arrest suspected drug dealers.

Dance parties also would be forced to install metal detectors to check
for weapons, instigate door searches and ban known criminals.

The crackdown could be extended to nightclubs and other entertainment
venues.

The action plan was backed by Australia's police ministers, who met in
Sydney yesterday to examine ways to stop the spread of designer drugs.

Victorian Police Minister Bill McGrath said recent deaths of young
people from designer drugs had put all states on alert.

Mr McGrath said the rise of new designer drugs such as Fantasy and Ice
was particularly worrying.

Designer drugs first came to prominence with the death of NSW
schoolgirl Anna Wood in 1995 after she overdosed on Ecstasy at a rave
party.

The strategy, titled National Protocols for Conducting Safer Dance
Parties, said a national approach was needed to tackle the "often
clandestine, unsafe and unprofessional manner" in which some dance
parties were run.

The national action will aim to work with existing public venues and
encourage underground dance party organizers to join the legitimate
industry.

Queensland Minister for Police Tom Barton said the decision
demonstrated Queensland was serious about cracking down on all drugs,
not just designer drugs, by taking a national approach consistent over
all jurisdictions.

"There isn't a particular problem with rare or designer drugs in
Queensland, although a couple of years ago there was. Changes to the
Drugs Misuse Act assisted police in cracking down on designer drugs,"
Mr Barton said.

Alcohol and Drug Foundation CEO Bob Aldred said that under Queensland
laws organisers of dance parties had to register with local councils
and comply with strict safety standards.

"What Queensland has done in the new legislation is encourage
responsible management and it seems to have contained rave parties,"
Mr Aldred said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry