Pubdate: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: 333 King St. E., Toronto, Ontario M5A 3X5 Canada Fax: (416) 947-3228 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoSun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html Author: Jeff Harder Note: Jeff Harder's column appears Fridays REAL LIFE SNEAKS INTO LEGISLATURE TORONTO - The dawn of a new millennium is time to celebrate. But celebrations also present risks and not just on New Year's Eve. This sad but ever-present reality was outlined to lawmakers by Liberal MPP Sandra Pupatello. During a debate on time allocation, which means a government move to fast-track legislation, Pupatello decided to enlighten MPPs about the dangers of rave parties and the drugs that go with them. She called on the politicians to get informed about the problem and then get involved in solving it. It was a breath of fresh air from otherwise routine debate about what has become a routine measure to ram laws through the building without fair and comprehensive public debate. Pupatello didn't waste her time condemning the Conservatives for the obvious: they don't give a hoot about public hearings or the time it takes to gather input about the weaknesses of their legislation. Instead, she talked about the challenges facing parents and the need to combat a new and dangerous trend: raves and drugs. Ecstasy has become the drug of choice for teenaged ravers, who argue their parties are safe because the venues don't sell liquor. The absence of booze has created the opportunity for drug sales. And, at $30 a pop, ecstasy is a bargain that keeps the dancers hopping all night long. Thirty bucks worth of beer wouldn't last until 8 p.m. where I come from. But the innkeepers have a better angle. They don't need a liquor licence, which means they don't have to greet government inspectors, which means they don't need a kitchen, which means they don't need a big payroll. They capitalize on stoned teenagers who teeter on organ-numbing dehydration. "The answer is a $3 bottle of water," Pupatello told her fellow MPPs. "Plus, the kids are paying $10 to get in." This is a racket, pure and simple. Sure, the establishment isn't selling illegal drugs, but it's benefitting just the same. Ontario deputy chief coroner James Cairns said the real sharks are set up in England. The rave club owners there shut off the water in the toilets, urinals and sinks to ensure their patrons shell out for high-priced bottled water. This practise has led to a number of deaths in the U.K., he said. For those who are strong enough to "handle" their ecstasy, the side effects usually kick in on Monday or Tuesday. "The guidance counsellors in our high schools are alarmed," Pupatello said. "Guidance counsellors and vice-principals are finding them throwing up in the bathrooms at school, passing out from fatigue, totally dehydrated, and they end up in a hospital for that 24-hour or 48-hour assessment. Then, we get into the whole issue of drug treatment." These are obviously the lucky ones. According to Cairns, eight Ontario deaths have been tied to ecstasy this year. There were at least two other instances where the pills were used in cases of date rape. The nasty part of this is that the women wouldn't even know they had ingested it. The drug had to be identified through a blood test at the Centre of Forensic Sciences. Furthermore, ecstasy causes amnesia. So, the victim wouldn't even be sure what happened while she was stoned. "There are many, many reports of young women getting into very serious trouble," Pupatello said. "Young women have been raped. Young women have died." The date rapists don't even have to buy ecstasy because the recipes are available on the Internet. A few simple search terms brings up a dozen different sites that offer useful advice on homespun hits of acid. But not everyone is a qualified chemist, which means the drugs aren't pure. Police have found pills that have been laced with rat poison, for example. This makes getting drunk look like a walk in the park. But, the teenagers keep buying ecstasy, anyway. And the teenagers keep dancing. And the teenagers keep getting dehydrated and disoriented. And so, the key to Pupatello's argument was to educate parents who are interested in the well-being of their children. She pleaded with them to open their eyes, to stop dropping their kids off at so-called "alcohol-free" parties in nondescript warehouses and downtown halls. "I wanted to tell parents that as you sit down over the holidays and take stock of family matters, look for clues. You should be looking for physical changes in your kid like weight loss, red eyes, having trouble talking or walking, having difficulty sleeping, changes in mood. Your teen may be less involved at home, cranky, more difficult to get along with, moody, secretive or unco-operative, withdrawn or depressed." You should also bee looking for tools of the trade. "You should be looking for thing in your house that have been hidden, like cigarette papers for rolling joints, roach clips for smoking pot, hash pipes, glass water pipes, syringes for injecting drugs, small scales they might use to weigh drugs, pills, powder or any other substance that you can't identify," she said. This is a pretty grim message as people enter the Year 2000, but a relevant one nevertheless. It shows that reality can, at times, permeate the thick stone walls of Queen's Park. Pupatello showed that politicians can try to make a difference by ignoring the message tracks that are manufactured by their parties and address the issues that matter to their constituents. Unfortunately, some walls are thicker than others, as proved by Conservative MPP Doug Galt. The minute Pupatello was finished delivering her riveting speech, Galt stood up and started talking about economic growth. He obviously thinks gross domestic product is more important that parenthood. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake