RAVES A HAVEN FOR PREDATORS

Does your child rave? I don't mean about music, movie idols or romantic
interests. I don't mean rant and rave. I mean does your child drug rave?
What is a rave? A rave is a gathering of young people to drink and do
drugs. The sole purpose is to get high. This is not just a
boys-will-be-boys and girls-will-be-girls situation. This is not
experimental alcohol and/or marijuana use.

This is hard-core use. And the problem is - many are victimized by sexual
predators at raves and a significant number die from the drugs.

Raves usually are held in abandoned buildings - warehouses in the city or
barns in the country. Sometimes they are even rented for the occasion. Some
are very sophisticated, with DJs imported from out of town using elaborate
sound and light systems. These are usually promoted by people from other
areas of the country. This is how they make a living. Some DJs at the
larger raves get as much as $25,000 a night. They have sound and light
systems set up to intentionally overload the brain's receptors. Then the
high from the drugs is more intense. The type of music played is called
"trance music." These people have researched this very carefully. They are
not stupid. They are, however, criminal.

Some raves are simply a local group using a home sound system. They get the
word out about the meeting time and place. Then they share whatever drugs
everyone has communally. Problem here is, where did the drugs come from?
Have they been altered?

How do they get the word out? Obviously they can't take out an ad in the
local media that says "DRUGS and BOOZE." However, there are ways. Have you
ever seen an oval sign or sticker that has ONE on it? Look closely. If the
O and N are slightly smaller than the E, to the knowledgeable this reads
"on Ecstasy." Ecstasy is a date rape drug. This means a rave is going to
happen. Sometimes around colleges and high schools this will appear on
fliers with a date below. Then you simply have to start asking and the
location is found. Who would you ask? Trust me, your child knows who the
serious druggies are in their school. It's frighteningly easy.

What kind of drugs are available at a rave? Just about everything in the
physician's desk reference, plus a few homemade drugs. Think that it would
take a laboratory in someone's house to make drugs? Think again. At a
recent conference I attended I found out some of the popular date rape
drugs are made from non-medicinal items found in most homes.

I am not going to tell you what the ingredients are because I am not into
spreading this information to those who don't already know. But I will tell
you homemade drugs have the same problem as bathtub gin during Prohibition
- - sometimes they blind, sometimes they cause brain damage, sometimes they kill.

I mentioned predators attending these events. A famous bank robber was once
asked why he robbed banks. He answered "because that's where the money is."
Sexual predators attend these events because that's where their potential
victims are. There is even a classification for this type of assault. It's
called drug facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). It is defined by the use of
an "anesthesia-type" drug to make the victim incapacitated to the point
where they are incapable of consenting or not consenting to sex.

Very often the victim will lose consciousness, awake in a different
location and feel like they had sex, but not remember it. There is often no
physical trauma because there was no struggle. Nonetheless, if consent was
not given, it was an assault.

How is this handled in law? The Ohio Revised Code states evidence that, at
the time of the alleged violation, the victim lacked the capacity to give
consent is admissible to show the victim did not give consent. In other
words, not saying no doesn't mean yes.

In America sexual assaults occur 78 times an hour - 1,871 times a day. A
growing number of these are drug facilitated sexual assaults. Drug
facilitated sexual assaults are one of the leading causes that rapes of
males is on the rise.

What is a typical scenario that allows this to happen? A young person 15 to
25 at a private party, bar or club is given drink they didn't order and
didn't see poured or their drink was left unattended. After drinking the
beverage they have a very sudden onset of nausea and go to the bathroom.
When they come out a "helpful" individual - sometimes a known person,
sometimes a stranger - offers to help them go outside for fresh air or
offers a ride home. The victim wakes up one to 12 hours later in a remote
location. The victim may have no memory or may have "flashes" of the assault.

Want to make the point with your child about unattended drinks? Drop a dry
bean or dry macaroni piece in their can of pop when they aren't paying
attention. When they find it at the bottom of the drink remind them it only
takes a second for someone to alter their drink.