POLICE RAVE PARTY BLITZ

POLICE plan a national crackdown on rave dance parties rife with
deadly designer drugs.

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

Rave party organisers may also have to install metal detectors to
check for weapons, carry out door searches and ban known criminals.
And the crackdown could be extended to nightclubs and other
entertainment venues.

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

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

The rise of designer drugs such as fantasy and ice was particularly
worrying, Mr McGrath said. "We don't want our young people dying."

Designer drugs first came to prominence in Australia with the death of
NSW schoolgirl Anna Wood in 1995.

Anna, 15, overdosed on ecstasy at a rave party. Designer drugs have
also been linked to other tragic deaths of young people.

Fightback proposals discussed at yesterday's Ministerial Council on
Drug Strategy include:

PATROLLING carparks, toilets and streets.

ENSURING adequate water supplies and cold running water in toilets to
prevent dehydration.

PROVIDING entertainment other than dancing - such as virtual reality
games, the Internet, arcade games and areas set aside for
socialising.

SETTING up a Rave Right Hot Line.

HEALTH promotion messages on postcards, posters and any pre-event
publicity.

HIRING accredited first-aid workers at dance parties.

DISCOURAGING high-risk behavior such as dancing on speakers or in fire
exits.

CONTROLLING sound, strobe and smoke machines so they operate within
statutory levels.

SETTING up "chill out" rooms at parties.

The strategy - National Protocols for Conducting Safer Dance Parties -
says a national approach is needed to tackle the "often clandestine,
unsafe and unprofessional manner" in which some dance parties are run.

"While some jurisdictions and individual agencies have developed local
guidelines and policies addressing the holding of such events, there
is, as yet, no national uniform approach that addresses the whole
range of potential problems and harms associated in the running of
dance parties," the document says.

Police plan to work with existing public venues and encourage
underground rave organisers to join the legitimate industry.

Among designer drug victims:

MELBOURNE man Adrian James Corless fell to his death in February 1995
after taking ecstasy, alcohol and amphetamines.

TWO Adelaide women died in 1996 after taking ecstasy. Yvette Newman,
22, died in March after having it at a nightclub and Jacquiline Louch,
37, died in January from a suspected brain haemorrhage after consuming
it.

Ecstasy is a manufactured drug that costs about $60 a tablet. Its
effect is apparent within an hour and lasts about four hours.

Users say it gives them a warm glow, non-stop energy, thrilling
rushes, euphoria, heightened senses and a feeling of being sexy and
loving.

But it can also cause people to vomit, feel paranoid, suffer
convulsions or collapse from dehydration after dancing all night.

Horror stories abound in nightclubs of drug trips gone
wrong.

"Bernie" told the Herald Sun he was taken to Western General Hospital
suffering dehydration, hyperventilation and hallucinations after a
marathon drug-taking session.

He believed he was dancing with angels and had eagle's talons after
taking speed and LSD.

He feared he would die when he was rushed to hospital.

"Suzie" said she "flipped" after two ecstasy tablets were slipped into
her drink at a nightclub.

She didn't sleep for three days and was violently ill during the
nightmare experience.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry