Task force on raves and Ecstasy created

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered the creation of a multi-agency task force to attack what experts warn is a growing threat to the public health—the potentially deadly relationship between drugs and raves.

The board, voting on a motion by Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe, directed the departments of Health Services and Public Health to assemble a team that would recommend ways to make these huge all-night dance events safer and to educate young people and their parents about the dangers of Ecstasy, the so-called “party” drug that is widely known to fuel the raves.

“They need to know what the risks are and what the stakes are,” said Yaroslavsky, who last week called for a moratorium on raves at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, where a recent two-day event led to more than 120 people being rushed to emergency rooms, most for drug-related causes, including a 15-year-old girl who died from an apparent overdose. A special meeting of the Coliseum Commission, of which Yaroslavsky is a member, is scheduled for July 16.

Outside the meeting, Yaroslavsky emphasized that the mission of the new task force would not be limited to a single event but rather to addressing larger public health implications. “It’s about the whole issue,” he said, “about the epidemic of Ecstasy that we have in our society.”

The new task force would bring together representatives from hospitals, law enforcement agencies, local cities, community health providers and the concert promotion industry—a request made by a representative of Insomniac, Inc., which organized the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Coliseum and has remained largely silent about the chaos at the event.

“We hope that the task force, with input from a broad range of the community and stakeholders, including representatives from the musical events industry, will recreate responsible and reasonable recommendations which can be implemented for all musical events in the County,” Insomniac spokesman Simon Rust Lamb. Questioned after his testimony, Lamb and Insomniac’s public relations representative refused further comment.

Also appearing before the supervisors was the county’s public health director, Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, who said he welcomed the opportunity to lead an effort aimed at tackling Ecstasy abuse at raves, which he called “a significant public health problem.”

Fielding said it is crucial that the public become educated about the unique and growing dangers Ecstasy and its use at raves, whether the events are held in public facilities like the Coliseum or in privately owned warehouses.

He said Ecstasy—methamphetamine combined with psychoactive drugs—can create severe strains on the body, including high blood pressure, elevated body temperature, a rapid heart rate and dehydration. He said that some users become so thirsty that they drink too much water, dangerously lowering their sodium levels, sometimes to fatal levels. He said that warning signs of excessive intoxication include vomiting, headaches, confusion and agitation.

In the early part of the decade, Fielding said, Ecstasy use declined but has started to climb again in recent years. Of drugs that are abused, he said, Ecstasy is “relatively small but increasingly consequential.”

Fielding said the task force might consider suggesting a number of safety measures to decrease Ecstasy health risks at raves, including having more breaks in the music to reduce the activity level and providing sports drinks that will not perilously lower sodium levels. Fielding also suggested that attendees never go alone so they have someone to help them should they fall ill.

As for the parents of younger teens, he offered this advice outside the hearing room: “I would tell them that they should not let their children go to raves. It’s not a place for kids.”

Posted 7/6/10