Raves, Drugs and Young People – Canada
Young people in Canada are attracted to raves as being somewhere they can go and dance all night with their friends, with light shows, “atmosphere” and electronic music. It is widely known that substance abuse is common at these events. Raves that allow entry from 16 years up don’t have alcohol service – advertising for these events is heavily salted with oblique references from drug culture – the most commonly used drugs at rave events are marijuana and MDMA or Ecstasy.
Parents concerned about whether their teen should be allowed to attend rave gatherings need to be aware that most people go to raves for the purpose of getting high, that drugs will be available and that should their teen take drugs and get into trouble – they are likely to be very much left on their own unless they actually become unconscious, at which time, concerned friends will hopefully, call emergency services.
Parents with concerns that their child will be missing out if not allowed to go to an unsupervised rave with their friends seriously need to question why a child under 19 needs, of all the recreational options available, to be attending a rave.
Many older ravers no longer go to raves due to the influx of drug addicted minors who attend, get high and become unruly, make a nuisance of themselves. Teens and their parents are naive who think that raves are a night of innocent, fun filled activity. Raves are carefully orchestrated events that provide a fairly anonymous and crowded venue at which people can take drugs, and let off steam. The purpose of raves is to make money – for both event organizers, and drug dealers.
In June of 2010, a fifteen year old girl died as a result of taking Ecstasy at a weekend mega rave held in a Los Angeles city hall, prompting the Mayor to question whether in future, this type of “happening” should be held in public venues. Even if not staged in public arenas, impromptu raves will continue be popular – staged in empty commercial premises, derelict buildings – often overcrowded and a fire hazard.
Over 200,000 people are said to have attended the two day Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum mega rave, many becoming unruly, with around 120 people taken to hospital emergency rooms because of adverse drug effects. The event was targeted at an audience 16+ years old and apparently those organising this event made no ID checks. The girl who died was 15 years old and the girls parents have filed a law suit against the group concerned, seeking $5 million for her wrongful admission to the rave, and subsequent death.
EDC, the organizer of the Electric Daisy Carnival Experience are no strangers to unruly rave outcomes – a rave in Dallas resulted in two related deaths, but their viewpoint is that they offer a safe and secure environment for patrons and that illicit drug taking, by minors or others, is not part of their responsiblity – with pat down searches taking place on entry, to exonerate their liability.
The Canadian government provides a neutral basis of fact and opinion from which parents and their children can make decisions about the risks, harms and benefits of attending at rave events.
Although conditions at raves are hot and oppressive to an adult way of thinking, it is highly unlikely that a well nourished and otherwise healthy teen will become overheated, dehydrated and exhausted to the point of collapse at a rave without them being under the influence of drugs, and in particular methamphetamines. Parents should also realise that street drugs can kill, without any assistance from partying.
Children attending a rave and offered drugs might think that they are safe because they have used a particular drug before, but there is no guarantee of what you are buying, or being given at a rave.
Sponsors that provide bottled water, mouth guards as protection for teeth clenching, salty food to ward off dehydration effects, and nasal sprays are accused of encouraging drug use – the reality is that people go to raves for the pleasure of all night drug fuelled dancing, interaction and excitement. It is naive to think that you child wants to go, just to dance and not use, or consider using drugs.
People use drugs at raves like people drink alcohol at a pub, simply an alternative venue for an alternative lifestyle. Parents who want their child to keep to the straight and narrow need to discourage their child from going to raves, pubs and nightclubs – who goes all day to a racetrack just to see the horses race, with no interest at all in gambling, and the excitement that goes with that.
Naturally the people involved in raves distance themselves from the drugs – but it could be a fatal mistake on the part of both parents and teens, to assume that there is no impulsion at a rave to turn on with some drug, and that your child will be immune.
If a teen is throwing a tantrum because you won’t let them attend at a rave, it is an opportunity to discuss what other type of excitement they might be interested in. There are safe children’s discos’, young children can be dropped off and picked up by parents.
There are many other activities that children can use to find a better sense of connection with their peers.
Too often it is the children of parent’s who simply don’t care that you will find using drugs underage, at a rave. Those, and the kid’s who sneak out to a rave, to thwart parents who seem to be overly restrictive.
It is not enough to say no to drugs, to say no to attending a rave, it is the work of parent’s to steer their child towards better use of their time than the dead end pleasure, and the risks of recreational drug use.
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