POLICE SAY THE RISK POSED BY RAVES IS VERY REAL

Is the fun worth the risk?

That's what local police hope Cowichan youths are asking themselves
before attending raves.

Those risks are real - news of a 16-year-old girl gang-raped at a Pitt
Meadows rave proves that.

And don't forget to add remote locations, tons of strangers and drugs
to the risk-list, too.

"Date-rape drugs are in our community - I've personally seized them so
I know they're here," Const. Markus Lueder of the North
Cowichan/Duncan RCMP said. "Should kids here be concerned? They should
be concerned, and parents should be concerned."

Lueder recently seized ketamine - one form of date-rape drug - from a
local teenager during a police bike patrol. That teen was also
carrying ecstasy - the drug of choice at raves.

"I think it'd be naive to think you can go to bush parties and raves
here and not have those drugs around, because I know they are," Lueder
said.

Raves are becoming commonplace in Cowichan.

"It's adults that organize them, and they charge a cover charge,"
Lueder said. "And they'll say they're checking people for drugs. You
know what? I'm not impressed, because the after-effects are there. If
they're checking people for drugs, they're doing a terrible job. And
kids are at risk. You cannot go to these things and not be at risk."

Organizers, Lueder added, don't have the partygoers' best interests at
heart.

"Don't kid yourself - at the end of the day, it's not about fun. It's
about money. Money, money, money."

Still, the fact remains hundreds of teens are going to
raves.

"If they were my kids, of course I'd tell them not to go. There is
nothing there for you. But I'm not a teenager, and there is a lot of
curiosity," Lueder admitted.

Carol-Ann Rolls with Cowichan Community Policing said education can go
a long way.

"I don't think we can stop teens from going to the raves - they're
part of the social culture - but they need to be cautious. Just as we
encourage women going to bars to not leave their drinks unattended, we
need to remind teens to take a drink with them and watch it. Know
who's putting the rave on, and how that person is ensuring the
situation is safe."

"But," Lueder cautioned, "it's playing in a dangerous arena. You have
no idea who comes to these raves, what drugs are used. You have no
idea if someone slips something into your drink."

That "something" slipped into a drink could be dangerous even if it's
not a date-rape drug, Lueder added.

"These drugs aren't produced in a laboratory, they're produced in some
guy's kitchen, and you don't know if he's drunk or stoned, and he's
mixing up your treats for you. That can't be good."

And with many rave locations in out-of-the-way locations, cellphone
reception can be poor and medical crews may not be able to make it
through the bush to the scene.

"Those are things you need to consider and be prepared to deal with,"
said Lueder, "because there are people there who won't have your best
interests at heart."

Remember this

Sept. 10's gang rape of a Lower Mainland girl has also prompted police
officials to remind teens no means no - even if the person saying "no"
is your girlfriend or boyfriend.

"When a woman says no, she means no, and it doesn't matter whether
there's been consent in the past or not," Cowichan Community
Policing's Carol-Ann Rolls said. "Some women feel that if they've
previously had sex with someone and then he later forces her to
against her will, it's not considered assault - it is."

RCMP Const. Markus Lueder said date-rape drugs are sometimes used in
these assaults, too.

He reminded teens that if they do become a victim of rape - with or
without the date-rape drug, and regardless of whether they're in a
relationship with the offender - to report it to police
immediately.

That goes for assault, too.

"There is no time ever that (dating violence) is OK. If there's
violence in your dating relationship, that's just a foreshadowing of
what's to come if you continue," he said.

"Nobody should ever subject themselves to violence in a dating
relationship, or any kind of relationship. That is just not normal,
that is not right and it's not acceptable. You think it just happened
once and he really apologized and won't do it again? That's a lie."

Rolls agreed.

"You deserve better," she said. "And you're not alone. Keep a log of
the abuse for evidence, and report it."