Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- The lines between a concert, a party and a rave are often blurry. But if you ask people who go to raves to explain what they are, you’ll get a fairly consistent description.
According to those who attend raves, they have lots of flashing lights, techno or electronic music, DJs and drugs. The amount of drugs isn’t always known, but they are a common fact at rave parties.
“We always end up making drug arrests at raves,” said Salt Lake County Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. “We know people bring them to the shows.”
The drugs found at raves include marijuana, acid, GHB, ketamine, mushrooms and the most popular, Ecstasy, or X. Some are hallucinogenics, such as ketamine and Ecstasy, whose effects are enhanced by the flashing lights.
We always end up making drug arrests at raves. We know people bring them to the shows.
–Salt Lake County Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal
Despite the prevalence of drugs, there are many young people who go to raves just to meet friends, dance and listen to music.
Prior to starting college, Chance Nelson used to attend raves. He said that there were a lot of people like him and his friends who were just there to dance and socialize.
“It was fun just to go to raves to meet people and hang out,” said Nelson. “When people were there for the dancing and to see their favorite DJ and have fun, that was the best.”
Kenny Scott is another rave attendee who doesn’t participate in drugs. He agreed with Nelson.
“There are a lot of people who go just to see a famous DJ,” said Scott. “But there are also people at raves who like to use drugs.”
Even though many of the participants at raves are sober, the reality of the rave scene is that drugs are present and easy to obtain. One former rave participant said that you only had to talk to a couple people and they would either have drugs to sell or could point out someone else who did.
What makes the ease of buying drugs even more disturbing is the age of some of the kids getting into the raves.
According to Hoyal, venues like Saltair Resort in Salt Lake County have age limits at some of their shows.
Related:
Party overload? Raves bring flood of young patients to hospitals
A KSL 5 News investigation discovered an emergency room flooded with patients on rave nights — most of them underage and many of them still in high school.“Saltair told me they require anyone under 18 to be with someone who’s older than 18,” said Hoyal. “You have to be with an adult and they have to sign you in.”
That doesn’t mean that a parent needs to sign in their child; it means anyone over 18 can accompany someone under 18.
Some rave shows are only for people 16 years old and older, but that doesn’t keep the younger kids out.
Both Nelson and Scott said it is not unusual to see a few 13- or 14-year-olds at a rave. Occasionally the children are even younger.
At large venues such as Saltair or the Salt Palace, security officers search patrons for drugs before they enter the building. During the show, police are present to look for drug sales and use. Additionally, medical staff is on hand to deal with possible drug overdoses that happen at raves.
At underground or smaller rave parties, those precautions might not be present.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office refers to a well-publicized rave that was broken up in 2005 in Spanish Fork Canyon.
“They had security which was supposedly searching for drugs,” said Cannon, “but they appeared to be serving more like bouncers. They didn’t contact the police to notify them that drugs had been confiscated.”
Related:
Want to talk to your teens? Start talking
Some simple ways parents can broach difficult topics, from sex and drugs to education and relationships, with their teenagers.Cannon said that after some 100 officers from different agencies swept in to break up the rave, they were amazed at what they found.
“As we were clearing the scene, you literally couldn’t walk 10 steps without seeing a baggie of marijuana, pills, other drugs or paraphernalia that people had dropped when they saw the police,” he said.
The rave was raided due to permit violations and made news because of accusations of police brutality. A lawsuit was filed by promoters but was later dismissed.
Cannon suspects that drug use at raves in remote locations, like the Spanish Fork show, have a higher percentage of drug use since there may not be any law enforcement present.
The police do what they can to reduce the amount of drugs at raves and regular concerts, but Cannon advises parents to become educated about the events their kids like to attend.
“If a parent is going to let their kids go to a show, they should investigate the place it’s being held,” he said. “Check out the venue and the organizers. Find out about what type of concert it is, what kind of security they have, and ask about their restrictions for alcohol.”
Since Nelson has been to raves and knows what they are about, his summary might be useful as a guideline for parents.
“I’m never letting my kids go to one of those,” he said.
Ted may be contacted at TedHegemann@gmail.com
