Should Raves be Banned

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(No Transcript)
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Should Raves be Banned?
By Ahmed Rizvi
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A list of Events...

• April 24th 2000, 24 people were arrested on 57
  drug-related charges during a large dance party,
  3 were hospitalized for drug problems.
• October of 1999, a 21 year old Ryerson
  Polytechnic University student, Alan Ho died at a
  rave due to large dozes of a drug called ecstasy.

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A list of Events...

• 13 deaths since 1998 due to the drug ecstasy so
  far, out of which 3 of them have been at raves. 1
  death was in 1998, 9 in 1999 and so far 3 in
  2000.
• According to Doctors and health specialists,
  Meningitis is easily spread at raves.
  (http//www.globaltv.com/).
• 3 people caught Meningitis in Feb 2000, out of
  which 2 cases were fatal.

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What are Raves?

• Raves are an influence of the British, brought to
  Toronto ten years back.
• Raves are usually referred to large dance parties
  held in warehouse settings or large areas
  accommodating people averaging between 10,000 to
  15,000.
• Raves tend to play music that has repetitive
  beats to it.

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What are Raves?

• .Raves are a legal place for drug pushers to do
  their dealings and make money thriving on
  innocent youths.
• Raves attract people from all around the
  neighboring areas and are a good source of
  tourism for the Government.

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Drug use at Raves..

• It can cause comas, death through overdose and it
  has no purity checks.
• The clear liquid GHB can be easily produced in a
  kitchen setting and is thought to work as a date
  rape drug, but its effects most noticeably mimic
  extreme drunkenness. (http//www.canoe.ca/CalgaryN
  ews/)
• The prevalence of drugs, such as Ecstasy, GHB and
  LSD, at raves makes regulating the parties that
  much more urgent.
• The presence of youths as young as 11- or
  12-years-old in such a drug-infested environment
  should also raise concerns

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Other Problems

• .Serious connections between guns, drugs and
  raves
• In July, police Chief Julian Fantino said
  Operation Strike Force, a five-week probe into
  late-night parties, resulted in 47 arrests for
  drug-related offences.
• Those arrested ranged in age from 13 to 37, but
  most were under 20, he said. About 60 charges
  were laid.

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Other Problems

• .The investigation, held in tandem with RCMP and
  provincial police, confiscated handguns and
  numerous drugs -- including hashish, marijuana,
  cocaine and ecstasy
• ."One of the more distressing items for all of us
  of course is this very serious connection that
  exists between drugs and guns and young people,"
  said Fantino. "We need a national strategy that
  recognizes that we have in fact a problem. This
  issue is a critical matter that requires a very
  high priority (Julian Fantino, Chief of Police,
  Toronto)

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Other Problems

• .Drug addiction increases
• .Increase in Meningitis and other diseases.
• .Raves have tied up so many paramedics that
  entire city neighborhoods have gone without
  ambulance service for hours (GlobalTV)

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Other Problems

• Under the effect of drugs at raves, ravers
  easily commit crime or they are more vulnerable
  to be victims of crime, violence or even rape.
• A very popular drug that is passed around at
  raves is called the date rape drug whose very
  little doze can make a person totally unaware of
  his surroundings.
• People have been reported to have been thinking
  they were birds after taking this pill, and have
  suffered huge medical complications and brain
  damages

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What can We do?

• Urge your friends and peers to stay away from
  drugs at raves.
• Consider writing to your MP and Mayor about the
  importance of banning raves in Toronto
• Freedom to dance should not be harmful to others
• Britain banned raves by passing the Repetitive
  Beats Law, and so it is banned in many states in
  America, why cant we?

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What can We do?

• It will push raves underground and in small
  nightclubs.
• This will cause even unsafe health and safety
  environment for ravers.
• Currently the Government has passed the Raves Act
  2000 which controls the ability of individuals
  and companies to organize, hold and promote raves
  to such an extreme that they will be impossible
  to even consider.

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What can We do?

• On August 1st, 2000, when close to 2000 people
  came out on Nathan Phillips Square protesting the
  banning on raves, their banners mostly read We
  are Voters too.
• Authorities in the Government are too shy to take
  on this challenge for fear of losing votes and
  power.

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What can We do?

• Sign the petition
• Educate others
• Rave safely if you must
• NO Drugs