Edmonton keeps raves despite drug problems, safety concerns

MDMA - otherwise known as the party drug ecstasy - gained notoriety in the 1980s as a recreational drug, and the Drug Enforcement Agency outlawed it in 1985. Before then, a small network of therapists had experimented with the drug as an adjunct to traditional talk therapy.

EDMONTON - The city backed away from banning raves Monday as the organizer of last April’s big Elements Music Festival said drug problems are dropping at his company’s events.

While 29 of the 16,600 people who attended Elements were treated in hospital for drug or alcohol problems, only four of 10,200 participants in two October shows went to hospital due to drugs, said Viet Nguyen of Boodang Canada.

“Things are getting better and the scene is improving,” he told city council’s executive committee. “We’re educating people more about the dangers of drug use. We have a (nurse-run) harm-reduction booth that we set up at all our events now.”

They also give dancers water to avoid dehydration at the late-night shows and send advance text messages urging responsible behaviour, Nguyen said.

A police report indicated that without the work of medical staff, there was an “extremely high” chance of someone dying at Elements from overdosing drugs, mostly ecstasy.

As it was, six people were admitted to hospital, two in critical condition. One of them is likely to require lifetime acute medical care.

Despite large numbers of police and the use of drug-sniffing dogs, drugs still made it into the Northlands Expo Centre venue, including through an unsecured door for DJs and thrown over a fence to the smoking pit.

But Nguyen said his company did the best it could at Elements. Boodang Canada paid a $202,000 bill to cover the cost of police, overtime for Alberta Health Services’ staff, late-night transit and other government costs.

“It was a safe event. There was more security and police at the event than you would see at an airport,” Nguyen said. “You got searched more at our event than at the airport.”

While Nguyen admitted high expenses could put promoters out of business, he said they will just have to adjust ticket prices and the cost of talent.

He supports the city’s push to improve planning for all big, future events at city-owned venues, including better notification, higher fines for unlicensed shows, and possibly recovering costs from illegal show organizers.

“Edmonton is known for electronic music now. … We get some of the biggest DJs in the world.”

But some councillors worry such festivals put the city at risk from a lawsuit if something goes wrong.

“How do you control these things? I just can’t understand,” Coun. Amarjeet Sohi said. “There has to be a way of sometimes saying ‘No, you can’t have it. Public safety is going to overrule your choice on this.’ ”

However, other councillors worry too much regulation would push the shows underground, where there wouldn’t be doctors and police on hand to deal with emergencies.

In the end, the committee didn’t take any steps to prevent future electronic music events.

Although deputy police chief Danielle Campbell said councillors will have to decide for themselves how much risk is acceptable, she admitted her officers can’t keep everyone at these shows safe.

“We can put in as many measures as we can,” Campbell said. “But every once in a while, you’re going to have some human beings who are going to choose the inappropriate path.”

gkent@edmontonjournal.com

SOURCE:WWW.EDMONTONJOURNAL.COM