Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jul 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Rong-Gong Lin II

PAIN OF ECSTASY

UC Irvine Graduate's Death Is the Latest in a Long Series Tied to 
Drug Use at Raves

A 24-year-old San Francisco man who died while attending the Electric 
Daisy Carnival rave in Las Vegas had ingested a fatal dose of the 
drug Ecstasy, authorities said.

The cause of death for Nicholas Austin Tom, a UC Irvine graduate, was 
MDMA intoxication, the shortened version of Ecstasy's scientific 
name, according to the Clark County coroner's office. Tom was 
declared dead June 21 at 3:25 a.m. at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 
where the rave was being held.

Tom, who went to Galileo Academy of Science & Technology in San 
Francisco, returned to the city after graduating from UC Irvine in 
2013 with a degree in biological sciences and a minor in psychology 
and became a medical assistant at UC San Francisco Medical Center.

Grief-stricken family members and friends paid tribute to Tom in 
online memorial posts, with many remembering him as an inspirational 
coach of dragonboat teams - a sport involving a large number of 
paddlers racing on a boat decorated like a dragon. Photos were posted 
of Tom grinning on the beach, spraying a friend with a water gun and 
posing for photos with his arms wrapped around his friends' shoulders.

Friends described how shocked they were to hear of Tom's death. "It's 
so common nowadays to hear of such news at these events that we grow 
so immune to it, and never would I have imagined that it would hit so 
close to home," said one person's post. "When I heard it was a Nick 
Tom, 24 years old in SF, I really begged that Austin wasn't your middle name."

This is at least the fifth death involving attendees of Electric 
Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas related to drugs or alcohol since the 
festival moved from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2011.

The move followed a Los Angeles Times investigation that disclosed 
how a government stadium manager who oversaw security and emergency 
services was also being paid by the rave company, Los Angeles-based 
Insomniac. A 15-yearold girl who attended a 2010 event at the 
Coliseum overdosed on Ecstasy and later died.

Insomniac Chief Executive Pasquale Rotella has been charged by the 
Los Angeles County district attorney's office in a bribery and 
conspiracy scheme, as has the ex-manager, Todd DeStefano. They have 
pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial, scheduled for next year.

A spokeswoman for Insomniac released a statement Thursday extending 
sympathies to Tom's family and friends, and said: "Participating in 
illicit drug behavior can have tragic consequences, and we hold a 
strict zero-tolerance policy for illegal activity while continually 
educating our fans on the dangers of drug use."

Use of drugs, especially Ecstasy, has been a major problem at raves 
held by Insomniac and another L.A. rave company, Go Ventures. A Times 
investigation published in 2013 found that at least 14 people who 
attended raves put on by one of those companies had died from 
overdoses or in other drug-related incidents since 2006. Since the 
investigation was published, five more, including Tom, have died in 
drug-related incidents.

Of the 19, three had ties to UC Irvine, either as students or as graduates.

In 2007, Michelle Lee, 20, a UC Irvine student, died of multiple-drug 
toxicity, including Ecstasy and amphetamines, after attending Go 
Ventures' Halloween-themed rave at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports 
Arena. Her body temperature hit 108 degrees, and the drugs shocked 
her liver and began destroying her kidneys and lungs. She died six days later.

And in 2012, UC Irvine graduate Olivier Hennessy, 31, was hit by a 
pickup truck after staggering into traffic outside Electric Daisy 
Carnival in Las Vegas; he had a bloodalcohol level of 0.19% and 
marijuana and hydrocodone in his system.

Health and law enforcement officials have warned that raves bring 
substantial drug risks, particularly involving Ecstasy, which is 
closely tied to the culture of raves - marathon dance parties 
featuring electronic music. There's a common misconception that 
Ecstasy, an illicitly made hallucinogen in pill form, is safe to take.

Ecstasy can cause body temperatures as high as 108 degrees - so high 
that the body's organs are destroyed. Multi-organ system failure can 
begin, which can cause a seizure, coma and death.

When raves were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports 
Arena, drug overdoses spiked so much that local emergency rooms were 
overwhelmed with severely ill rave attendees, and emergency room 
doctors urged that raves end. Los Angeles police warned that raves 
invite widespread Ecstasy use.

Public health officials writing in a report published by the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said authorities "should 
be aware of the potential health risks with making publicly owned 
facilities available for large commercial events such as raves." Some 
venues have banned raves following a string of fatal overdoses.

At least three drug-related deaths have occurred among attendees of 
Insomniac raves in San Bernardino County.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom